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PHILIP SCHUYLEE. 



VOL. I. 





CAMIIMEME YoRo §(D 



TiiASOK iiBOTHklRH "NV 



THIS 



LIFE AND TIMES 



OP 



PHILIP SCHUYLER. 



BENSON J. 'lOSSING 






NEW YORK: 

Ha^ A. S O 7>f BROTHERS, 

5 & 7 MERCEE STllEET. 






Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1860, by 

BENSCN J. LOSSSING, 

In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the Southern 
District of New York. 



STEKrOTYPED BY PRINTEP BT 

Smith &M0D0UOAL, C. A. Alvokd, 

82 & SI UEEKSIAN-BT., N.T. 16 VANDEWATRK-ST. 



PREFACE. 

Or all the prominent men in public life in America 
during the last half of the eighteenth century, not one so 
really distinguished for important services as Greneral 
Schuyler has received so little attention from the essayist, 
the histoiian, or the biogi'aj^her, as he. His name is fami- 
liar to all who possess even a superficial knowledge of his 
country's annals, and yet, to all, the details of his career 
in civil and military life are unknown. His figure, as 
drawn by the historian's pen, is seen in bold relief, in de- 
tached pictures illustrative of his country's history from 
the clawn of the birth-day of the Republic until the firm 
establishment of government under the federal constitu- 
tion ; but the really more important phases of his useful 
life are hidden or but imperfectly apprehended. 

General Schuyler's career was not brilliant but enii- 
nently useful. He was one of those men who often work 
noiselessly but efficiently ; whose labors form the bases of 
great performances ; who lay the foundations and modestly 
assist in building the structures of law, government, morals, 
and philosophy, which give true glory to a state, and who 
rest contented, when the labor is over, with the reward of 
conscious merit as benefactors of mankind, indifferent to 



Tl PREFACE. 

that popular applause wliick follows the enunciation of 
startling opinions, or the performance of brilliant services. 

No man was ever more keenly alive to the influence of 
just censure or praise than General Schuyler ; and yet no 
man ever felt less concern than lie about the verdict of the 
popular feeling of the hour. Conscious of unswerving 
rectitude and fidelity, he was ever perfectly willing to sub- 
mit his character and motives to the analysis of dispas- 
sionate posterity. , 

General Schuyler did not leave behind liim any auto- 
biography, in the form of a diary or a narrative of his 
career. Of his early life we have very little knowledge, 
except such as is preserved in family traditions and pas- 
sages in the public records. Hitherto no biography of him 
has been written. Many years ago the late Chancellor 
Kent wrote a brief memoir of him, which occupies a few 
pages in the American Portrait Gallery. It is general and 
necessarily meager. More recently the late Mr. Irving, 
and also the author of this work, in their respective elabo- 
rate biographies of Washington, have given many new 
and interesting details of General Schuyler's military life ; 
and his grandson, John C. Hamilton, Esq., in his work en- 
titled " History of the Republic of the Unitetl States of 
America, as traced in tlie Writings of Alexander Hamilton 
and his Coteraporaries," has given much more information 
concerning Schuyler's civil life than had ever before been 
published. With these exceptions, very little has hitherto 
been written concerning the subject of these volumes. 

This biography of General Schuyler has been con- 
structed with much labor and care, from family traditions 



PREFACE, Vll 

and records, the public docuraents and records of the 
country, printed and in manuscript, authentic histories 
of his times, and his own correspondence. The latter, 
evidently somewhat imperfect, but still voluminous, com- 
mences with the period when the old War for Independence 
was kindling, and extends to the day of his death, in 
1804, It is in the form of manuscript letter books 
on his part, and autograph letters on the part of his 
correspondents. The former are contained in several large 
volumes ; the latter comprise several thousand loose sheets 
of paper, all carefully filed and endorsed by Schuyler. 
These, for many years after his death, were neglected, and 
became somewhat scattered. Many letters have been lost, 
and some have been given away as autographs. 

To Mr. and Mrs, G-eorge L. Schuyler, of Dobbs' Ferry, 
New York (the former a grandson of General Schuyler), the 
world is indebted for the collection and preservation of all 
that are left of the papers of General Schuyler. Having, 
a few years ago, expressed to them a desire to prepare a 
biography of their illustrious ancestor, they readily offered 
me the free use of the materials in their possession. I have 
examined every paper carefully, and have endeavored to 
make judicious use of the matter placed in my hands, in 
the preparation of a history of the " Life and Times of 
Philip Schuyler," in two moderate sized volumes, adapted 
to popular use. 

With these few prefatory remarks, the work is sub- 
mitted to the public. 

B. J. L. 

PoueHKBEPSiE, September, 1860. 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 

PAGE 

Bkveewyck, or Ancient Albany. — The Patuoons of Ebnsselakrwtck. — Their 
Agent and Governiir Stuyvesant. — A Row in Albany. — Philip Pieterskn 

SCHUYLEl! IN THE AfFRAY. — IIe MARRIES THE DAUGHTER OF VaN ReNSSELAER'S 

Agent. — Her Character.— Their Son Peter becomes first Mayor of Al- 
bany. — Their Son John the Grandfather of General Schuyler, — IIis Expe- 
ditions against the Fren'ch. — Peter takes Indian Chiefs to England. — 
John sent on a Mission to Canada. — Influence of the Schuyler Family over 
TUB Indians. — Philip Schuyler's Family. — His Birth IT 

CHAPTER II. 

Social and Political Aspect of New York, at the Time of Philip Schuyler's 
BiKTii.— Prevalence of Democratic Ideas.— Birth of Kepresentativk Govern- 
ment IN New York. — Toleration ofthe Dutch. — The Ihoquois Confederacy. — 
Their Intercourse with the Dutch, and its Results. — Charter of Liberties — 
Jacob Leisler. — The Liuerty of the Press asserted and vindicated in the 
Person of John Peter Zenger. — Growth of Albany. — Society there. — Pecu- 
liarities OF Social and Domestic Life. — Hunting and Trading Excursions.. . 2T 

CHAPTER III. 

Young Schuyler left in the Care op his Mother. — Her Firmness illus- 
trated. — Expected War with the French. — Frontiers of New York and 
New England exposed. — Albany included in every Scheme of Invasion — 
Effect t>F current Excitement on young Schuyler's Mind. — Siege and Cap- 
ture OF LouisBURG. — Effects of British Injustice on the Colonists. — Provi- 
dential Dispersion of a French Fleet. — Upper Valley of the Hudson deso- 
lated. — Saratoga Destroyed. — .Murder op Colonel Schuyler. — Excitement 
throughout the Colony'. — Political Affairs. — William Johnson made Indian 

COM.MISSIONER. — PREPARATIONS FOR WaR. — COUNCIL WITH INDIANS AT ALBANY. — 

Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle. — The War a School for American Patriots 47 

CHAPTER IV. 

Young Schuler's earlier Instructors. — Neglect of Education. — List of Uni- 
versity Graduates in the Province. — Young Schuyler at a Huguenot 
School in New Rociielle. — His Sufferings from Hereditary Gout.^On a. 
Hunting and Trading Excursion in the Wilderness. — His Defense of the 
Indians fro.v Fraud. — Their Reverence for Hi.m and his Family exhibited. — 
Character of the People of New York City. — Young Schuyler's Letter 
respecting his first Evening at a Theater. — Schools, Newspapers, and 
Libraries in New York City. — Religious Divisions and Churches. — Relig- 
ious Controversies. — The Independent Reflector. — Excitement in the Col- 
onies. — Material Aspects of New York 63 



C 0NTENT8. 



CHAPTER V. 

PAOB 

ScnrYLER's Marriage to Catiikkise Van Kensselaer. — Her Character. — 
SonuYLEK's 1'eksonai, Api'earance at that Time. — Mrs. Grant's Desckiption 
OF the IIopsehold and Domestic arranoe.mknts or "Aunt Schuyler." — 
Charming Lifk-1'ictures ok Society.— Schuyler's Estate.— His noble Gen- 
erosity. — War with the French and Indians S2 

CHAPTER YI. 

The Treaty op Aix-la-Chapelle only a Truce.— Disagreement about Bound- 
aries. — French Ambition. — The Ohio Company and their Land Grant.— The 
French in the Ohio Valley.— Forts built in the Wilderness. — Young Wash- 
ington SENT on a Mission to French Officers.- Its Kesult.— Preparations 
for Hostilities. — Virginians in the Field.— Other Colonies Tardy. — Troops 

MARCH FROM ALEXANDRIA FOR THE OhIO. — FoRT 1)V QuKSNE. — WASHINGTON'S 

Encounter with his Enemy at Fort Nece.-^sity — IIis Defeat.— Colonial Con- 
tention AT Albany. — Its Action and Kesults. — Proposed Plan of Union re- 
jected. — Arrival of General Braddock. — Plan of the Campaign op 1755. — 
New Vork Politics. — Preparations for defending the Northern Fron- 
tiers. — Schuyler Authorized to raise a Company, and Ccmmissioned a 
Captain 93 



CHAPTER VII. 

Troops at Albany.-Expedition against Ticonderoga,undrr General Johnson. — 
Schuyler is the Field.— General Lvmas builds Fort Edward. — Troops 
March for Lake George. — Desolation of Acadie by the New Enolanders. — 
Braddock's unfortunate Expedition.— Failure of E.'cpeditxon against Niag- 
ara. — The Provincial Army at Lake George. — Approach of French and 
Indians under Dieskau. — Defeat of Colonel Williams. — Death of Willia-ms 
AND King Hendrick. — Attack upon Johnson's Camp. — The Fuench Repulsed.— 
Dieskau badly Wounded. — Pursuit not Allowed. — Johnson builds Fort 
William Henry. — Is Knighted. — His Meanness. — Captain Schuylek's Nup- 
tials. — Dieskau in Albany. — Hospitably treated by Schuyler's Family. — 
Dieskau's Letter to Schuyler 11] 



CHAPTER Y I TI . 

Shirley's Plan for the Campaign of 1756.— Loudoun a weak and indolent 
Man succeeds Shirley as Co.mmander-in-ciiief.— England declares War 
against France.— Abkrcrombie, Loudoun's Lieutenant, at Albany-. — Brad- 
street's Expedition to Oswego. — Encounter with and Repui.se of the French 
ON the Oswego river.— Generous Conduct of Captain Schuyler.— Montcalm 
atTiconderoga.— His Expedition AGAINST Oswego. — Captures and de.molisiiks 
THE Forts.— Loudoun's Irritating conduct in New York.— Indians Smitten 

AT KlTTANNING. — CAPTAIN ScHUYLER LEAVES THE SeRVICE.-Is FREQUENTLY CON- 
SULTED. — Loudoun's Plans condemned and his Inefficiency deplored. — Weak- 
ness OF THE British Cabinet.— Expedition against Louisburo defeated by 
Loudoun's Tardiness. — Montcalm captures Fort William Henry.- 15ad Con- 
duct OF General Webb. — Put called to the Head of Public Affairs.- His 
Efficiency and Popularity. — Plans a vigorous Campaign. — llis Liberality 
Responded to. — .\bebcrombie in Chief Com.mand. — Capture of Louisbitrg. — 
Expedition against Quebec abandoned 1B7 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER IX. 

PAQB 

Captain Scnayi.EP. and Lord IIove. — Schtttlek promoted to Majop. and joins 
THE Army. — Lord Howe's Ciiakactek and Services. — Expedition aoainst 

TiCONDEROGA. — PASSAGE OF THE AkMY OVER LaKE GeORGE.^ThE FrENCIJ OuT- 

POSTS Surprised. — Skirmish in the Forest. —Lord Howe Killed. — Attack on 

TlCONDKROGA. — ThE BRITISH REPULSED WITH GREAT LOSS, AND ReTREAT TO THE 

Head of Lake Georgr. — Captain Schdyler conveys Lord Howe to Albany 
FOR Inter.ment. —Curious Pheno-menon. — Bradstueet's Expedition against 
FoET Frontenac. — Schuyler at Oswego. — Capture of Frontenao. — Fort 
Stanwix. — Expedition against Fort Du Quesne. — Incidents op the Expe- 
dition.— The Fort abandoned. — French Pride humbled 145 



CHAPTER X. 

Final Struggle between the French and English for the Mastery in Amek- 
iCA. — Pitt's Scheme for conquering all Canada. — Amherst in chief Com- 
mand. — Campaign of 1759. — Advance upon Ticonderoga. — Capture of Fort 
Niagara by the British. — Schuyler forwards Supplies to the Army undeb 
Amherst. — The French flee from Lake Ciiamplai.v. — Wolfe before Quebec. — 
The City Taken. — Death of Wolfe and Montcalm. — Unsuccessful Attempt 
to becoveb Quebec. — Montreal taken by the British. — Capture of Detroit. 162 



CHAPTER XI. 

Colonel Bradstreet commits his Private Affairs to Schuyler. — Schuyler 
goes TO England to settle Bradstreet's public Accounts. — Stirring Incidents 
of his Voyage. — Performs his Duties and Returns. — Affairs in England. — 
Lord Stirling. — Com.mbrcial Restrictions. — Un.mded Struggles of the Col- 
onies.— Political Affairs in England. — Writs of Assistance and their 
Fruits. — James Otis on the Subject. — Political Affairs in New York. — 
Question of Church and State revived. — Schuyler on the Side of the 
People. — Affairs in the West Indies. — The British Arms successful. — Finan- 
cial Condition of France.— Treaty of Paris. — Indian War in the South- 
west. — Pontiac's Conspiracy and Defeat 179 



CHAPTER XII. 

Schuyler in Civil Employment. — Proprietor of large Tracts or Land. — Cor- 
respondence WITH PROFEsson Bbande of London. — Land Schemes. — Obstacles 
IN THE Way of E.migeation. — Boundary Disputes. — Schuyler a Commissioner 
TO settle them. — Stirring Scenes in the New Hampshire Grants. — Hostile 
Collisions. — Schuyler an active Participant in the Disputes.— The Stamp 
Act. — Violent Opposition to IT. — Stamp Act congress in New York. — Riots. — 
Repeal of the Act. — Re.toicings. — Statues voted to the King and Pitt. — The 
Declaratory Act and its Effect on the Americans. — The New York Assem- 
bly AND the Governor at Variance.— Offensive Parliamentary Acts. — 
Letters of a Pennsylvania Farmer 199 



COK TE NTS, 



CHAPTER XIII. 

PA6H 

SomryLKB an Active but Conservative Politician. — A welcome Guest rN New 
York. — Participates Tn the Kicjoicings there on the Kei'eal of the Stamp 
Act. — Is intimate witu Governor Sib Henry Moure. — Their Families visit 

EACH other. — Is ENOAOED IN THE COM.MISSART DeI'ARTMKNT. — UaISES A IIeGIMENT 
AND IS CllllMISSIONED A COLONEL. — AlDS THE HOUNDARY COMMISSIONER.*. — Hl8 
COUNTRV-SEAT AT SARATOGA. — CORRESPONDENCE WITH PROFESSOR BrANDE. — 
E8TAJJLISHF.S A FlAX-MILL AT SARATOGA. — ELECTED A MEMBER OF THE CoLONIAL 

Assembly. — E.vnAssv of Southern Indians to Sib William Johnso.v. — Colonel 
Schuyler a le.vding IJepuulican in the new Assembly. — Blow aimed at Free 
DiscussiiiN. — Action of Massachusetts andNew York Assemblies. — Troops in 
Boston. — Non-importation Leagues 214 

CHAPTER XIV. 

Bcbcyler a Leader in the assembly. — Kiots in New York. — Address to the 
Governor written by Schuyler. — Its Loyalty and Independence. — Transla- 
Tiow of the Dutch Records of Albany. — The Governor officially offended 

BY bold UeSOLUTIONS OP THE ASSEMBLY. — He DiSSOI.VKS THE ASSEMBLY. — 

Troubles in New York. — Schuyler's Kel.vtions with Sib Willia.m Johnson 
AND Governor Moore. — IIis Vigilance and Activity as a Legislator. — His 
Lmmigbation Scheme. — The Indian Trade. — Schuyler's Attempt to purity 
Legislation. — Events in Massachusetts, Virginia, and other Pbovinces. — 
The Beitish Ministuy baffled. — Effects of Non-lmportation Leagues 230 



CHAPTER XV. 

Death of Oovernoe Moobf-.— Golden his Successor. — Schuyler banquets witb 
THE Sons of Libkbty in New York. — Coalition between Colden and De 
Lancet. — A Deceptive Financial Scheme. — Public Alarm. — Great Meeting 
IN THE Open Air. — An offensive Placard pronounced a Libel by the As- 
sembly. — Schuyler ALONE, in that Body, stands by the People. — He nomin- 
ates Edward Burke for the Agency of New York. — MoDougal Imprisoned 
AS THE Author of the Libelous Placard. — Popular Enthusiasm in his 
Favor. — Loyalist Party gain Ascendency in the Assembly. — Affrays in 

New York.— The "Boston Massacre." — Political Changes in New York 

Lord Dunmore Governor. — .\bject Addrf.ss of the .\ssemi)ly deplored by 

SCHDYLER ANDIIIS FRIENDS. — SCHUYLER DISABLED BY GoUT.— NeW HAMPSHIRE 

Grants. — Ethan Allen and his -Movements. — Schuyler in the Disaffected 
Assembly of 1772. — Difficulty between Him and Henry Van Schaack. — 
Governor Tbyon and his Land Speculations. — Schuyler's Sche.me fob pre- 
venting Counterfeitino. — Hi: draws up a Statemknt of "The just Kiguts op 
New York," in the Matter in Dispute with the New Hampshire Grants. — It 
offends the New England People 34; 



CHAPTER XVI. 

BoiruTLER proposed for a Judge in Charlotte County. — Lord North's Scheme 
in Relation to Tea. — East India Company send Tea to America. — The Tea 

BENT back ok DF.STB0YED. — " BoSTON Tea 1'aRTY." — FiRMNESS OK THE SoNS OP 

Liberty in New York. — Schuyler confined with the Gout. — Partif.8 in New 
York. — Committee op Correspondence appointed by the Assembly. — Depar- 



CONTENTS. XIU 

PAGE 
TTTRE OF GOVKKNOE TnrON FOR ENGLAND. — ReTALIATOKT MEASURES OF PaKI.IA- 

jiENT. — Great Excitement in America. — The Kevolution kindling. — Miniiie 
Men. — The Bosti^n Pout Bill, .\nd its Results. — Excitement in New YoiiK. — 
PuFLic Proceedings there. — Continental Congress propi-skd. — •' Gke.vt 
Merting in the Fields."— Alexander Hamilton. — Effect of his Okatouy. — 
Schl'tler's Health compels Him to Decline a Seat in the Continental 
CoNGllESS iit36 

CHAPTER XVII. 

The First Continental Congress. — Its Measures. — Adjourns Conditionally. — 
The Colonies in a Blaze of Excitement. — Political Correspondence between 
Councilor Smith and Schuyler. — Efforts op Loyalist;? against the Repub- 
licans. — SCIUTYLER IN NeW VoRK. — DEATH OF GENERAL BrADSTREET. — 

Schuyler's Friendly Services in behalf of his Family. — Schuyler the 

ACKNOWLEDGED LEADER IN THE ASSEMBLY. — TeSTS OF THE POLITICAL CHARACTER 

of the Assembly. — ICejoicings of LoYALibTS. — Efforts of Schuyler and his 
Friends to procure a Vote of the Assembly, approving the Action of the 
Congkers.— His Amend.ments to Obsequious Resolutions of the Assembly. — 
Final Ad.ioctrnment of the Assembly. — Revolutionary Movements in New 
York and Boston.— Blindness of the British Parliament. — Gage sends 
Troops from Boston to seize Arms and Stores.— Skirmi^^hes at Lexington and 
Concord. — The War for Independence begun . . .■ 2S5 

C II .a^ T E R XVIII. 

The People in Convention, in New York, appoint Delegates to the Conti- 
nental Congress. — Colonel Schuyler in the Convention. — He is chosen a Re- 
presentative IN THE Congress — At Saratoga when the News of the Affaie 
at Lexington and Concord reached him. — His Letter to John Cruger. — Thr 
Affection and Confidence of his Neighbors. — New York Provincial Con- 
gress.— Revolutionary Movements in all the Colonies. — Seizure of Ticon- 

DEROGA AND CrOWN PoINT BY THE REPUBLICANS. — TUE G REEN MOUNTAIN BOYS. — 

Bad Conduct of Benedict Arnold. — The Second Continental Congress. — 
Colonel Schuyler in that Body. — Action op the Congress. — Cautious Pro- 
ceedings RELATIVE TO THE LaKE Cha.MPLAIN FoRTS. — POLITICAL ASPECT OF NeW 

York. — Alliance of Canada desired. — Schuyler recommended by the New 
York Provincial Congress as Major-General. — Plans fob an American 
Government 304 



CHAPTER XIX. 

Lord North's Conciliatory Bill rejected as Deceptive. — "War Spirit in the 
General Congress, and among the People. — \ Republican Army at Boston. — 
Confidence of the British Officers. — Battle of Bunker's Hill. — Washino- 
ton appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army.. — Schuylek 
chosen the second Ma.)or-General. — Emission of Paper Money. — Schuyler 
accompanies Washington to New York. — Reception of the Co.m.mander-in- 
Chief there. — A Dilemma. — Washington's Instructions to Schuyler. — 
Schuyler leaves his Gener.yl atNewRochelle — He enters upon his Duties 
AS Commander-in-Chief op the Northern Department. — The Canadians ap- 
pealed to. — Proposition to Invade Canada rejected. — Operations on Lake 
Champlain. — Connecticut Troops sent to Lake Champlain. — Operations op 
Benedict Arnold. — Allen in the New York Assembly. — Preparations to 
Invade Canada '. 823 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER XX. 

PA6B 

Schuyler lf.a-vts New York fok the North. — His Letter to General Wooster 

ON THAT OOCASIOX. — SOUCVLEU'S PuBLIC KeCEPTION AT ALBANY. — TuE FuTUUE 
DahK AND rNI'HOMISINO. — RaD JnFLI'ENCE OF THE JoHNSON FAMILY OVER THE 

Indians.— Thk Indians Uneasy.— Unhappy Stateok Affairs atTicdnderoga. — 

TUE QliARHELSoME BeNEDTCT ARNOLD THE CHIEF CaISE OF TllOUHLE THERE. — He 

leaves the Laki: in Anoer. — Startling Intelligence from the Mohawk 
Valley. — Grv Johnson among thk Indians. — His Letter to the New Tork 
Provincial Congress. — Commissioners for Indian Affairs appointed by the 

Continental Congress. —Schuyler at the Head of it Indians employed by 

THE British. — Schuyler's Lahoks and Kesponsibilities. — AVasiiington Sy.mpa- 
thizks with Him. — Organization of the Green Mountain Boys.— Allen Re- 

rUDlATED BY THEM, AND ACTS AS A VOLUNTEER. — Ma.IOR BrOWN EMPLOYED AS A 

Scout in Canada 345 



CHAPTER XXI. 

Scarcity of Provisions in the Northern Army. — Schuyler's Efforts to produce 

Supplies. — .Ifalousies among the Troops Schuyler's trouble with the 

C0MMIS8ARIF.S. — He Kebukes them Severely-. — Schuyler as a Military Com- 
mander.— Cause of Ill-will toward Him. — Intelligence from Canada makks 
Schuyler Impatiettto move forwakh.— Difkiccltv in raisino Men for the . 
Service.— New York Troops. — Dr. Franklin sends Powder to Schuyler. — 
Arnold proposed as Adjutant-General of the Notuern Army. — Letters of 

DUER AND DeANE ON TUE SUBJECT.— DeANE'S ApPEAL IN BeUALF OF ARNOLD 869 



CHAPTER XX IT. 

Bchuyler at a Couniil with the Indians at .■\lbany.— General Montgo.mert 
left in Command of the Northern Ar.my. — Movements of the Indians. — The 
Conference. — Address of the Continental Congress to the Indians. — Rf.sults 
of the Council.— Troubles in the Mohawk Valley. — Sir John Johnson and 
nis Influence. — Sheriff \Vhitf_— Schuyi..er hastens to Ticonderoga. — Mont- 
gomery movf„s down the Lake with a Part of the Army. — Character of ^[oNT- 

gomeky. — Schuyler is taken Sick. — Difficulty with the Indians settled. 

He ovei:takes the .\rmv at Isle la Motte. — Schuyler's Address to the Cana- 
dians. — Allen and Brown sent among the Canadians with it 3S6 



CHAPTER XXIII. 

The Army at Isle aux Noix.— Preparations to attack St. John's. — The Troops 
move forward. — A Skirmish. — False Information given to Schuyler. — Tns 
Army withdraws to Isle aux Noix. — Anxiety of the Continental Congress 

FOR THE Invasion OF Canada.— Pl'blic and PrivatI': Letters to Schuyler. 

Thk Ti'.ooi'.-' again sent forward to Attack St. John's. —Schuyler extremely 

III. — Bad Conduct of some of the Troops. — Return to Isle aux Noix. 

Schuyler compelled to Return to Ticonderoga. — His timely Services tiij:re 

SAVE THE AR.MY. — MONTGOMERY BESIEGES St. JoUN'S. — INSUBORDINATION OF THE 

Troops 403 



C ONTENTS. 



CHAPTER XXIV. 

PAGE 

Attempt to Capture Montreal. — Colonel Allen made a Prisonee and sent to 
England. — llts Boldnes.s HF.roRE ms Captors. — Iniii'manly treated by tub 
British. — His I.mprudence caitsed Dufioulties. — MoNTcio.MERY Distressed bt 
THE Bad Conduct op ms Troops. — His gbneuous Loyalty to his Country. — 
Schuyler seriously III at Ticonderoga. — He is Distressed by the Conduct 
of the Troops there. — The Fidelity of Schuyler and Montgomery. — A Decep- 
TIVJ5 Treaty.— Capture of Ciiamblee. — First Colors taken in the War, sent 
to the Continental Congress, by Schuyler 411 



CHAPTER XXV. 

The Seige op St. John's pressed Vigoeovtsly. — Schuyler has unpleasant Expe- 
riences WITH WOOSTER. — He IS WaRNED OF COMING TROUBLE. — TlIE CONGRESS 
AWARE OP IT, TAKE MEASURES ACCORDINGLY. — LeTTEK OF Mb. BEDFORD. — BaD 

Conduct op some op Wooster's Troops at Ticonderoga. — Wooster courteously 
received by schuyler. — hls satisfaotoity declarations to schuyler. — 
Wooster's Conduct not in accordance with his Professions. — Correspon- 
dence. — Action of the Connecticut Assembly'. — Schuyler tortured by Disease 

AND DiS.\PPOINTMENT. — An INJUDICIOUS LETTER. — WooSTERJOINS MONTGO.MERY. — 

The British repulsed at two Points on the St. Lawrence. — St. John's Sur- 
renders TO Montgomery. — The Spoils of Viot'iry 433 



CHAPTER XXVI. 

Arnold's Expedition to Quebec through the Wilderness. — His Ambition grati- 
fied by his Appointment to the Command of it. — His Instructions fro.m Wash- 
ington. — Incidents of the Expedition. — Arrival at the French Settle- 
ments. — The Expedition opposite Quebec. — Alarm of the Town and Garri- 
son. — Montgomery marches upon Montreal. — Reluctance of his Troops to 
GO. — Carlkton .\bandon8 the Town and fleksto Quebec. — Montgo.mery t.vkes 
Possession of Montreal. — His Welcome Keckption. — Carleton's Flotilla 
Captured. — Escape ofCaeleton. — Montgo.mery anxiously desiues to proceed 
TO Quebec 443 



CHAPTER XXVII. 

New England Troops refuse to go to Quebec. — Great Homesickness among 
THEM. — Large Nu.mbers Discharged by Schuyler at Ticonderoga. — Washing- 
ton's Trouble with' his Troops at Boston. — Schuyler's Rebuke of Inhu- 
manity. — .Montgomery distressed by Insubordination. — A Turbulent and 
Mutinous Spirit in the Army. — Dilatoriousness of the Congress. — Mont- 
gomery resolves to Leave the Ar.my at the Close of the Campaign. — 
Schuyler's continued III Health. — He Returns to Albany. — Conference 
WITH so.me Indians there. — A Glance at Schuyler's Services — His Justice 

AND TeUXIIFULNESS. — GENERAL WOOSTEr's InEFFICENCY' SUSPECTED. — SCKUYLER 

DESIRES TO Retire feo.m the Seevioe. — Congress and Washington Appeal to 
Him He Consents to Remain. 465 



m CONT EKT S. 



CHAPTER X X \' 1 1 1 . 

PAGH 

Jot BECAF8E OF Montgomery's Successes. — lIis Need and Lack of Suppues. — TIk 

ASSUMES IvESI'ONSlUTHTIES FOK TUE OOOD OF THE SERVICE. — ARNOLD CROS.SES THE 

St. Lawrence and appears before Qcebec. — His OfERATioNS before the 
City. — Demand for Sitrrender, treated with Conte.mpt. — He withdraws to 
Point au.\ Trembles. — Montoomkry leaves Montreal for Quebec. — llis Plans 
For CoNgt'EST. — He joins Arnold at Point au.k Trkmbles, and Clothes and 
Addres-ses hls Trooi'S. — The combined Forces before Ql'eukc. — Niontgo.mery's 
Flag of Truce, fired upon. — His Indignation. — Prepares for an Assault.— 
Carleton would hold no Ccmmunication with Him.— An Ioe Battery con- 
structed AND Demolished. — Trouble ajiono Arnold's Officers. — Success of 

THE E.XPEDITION THEREBY PERILLED. — HaED MoNEvNeEDED. — FUTILE EFFORTS IN 
THE UkCRUITING SERVICE; 473 



CHAPTER XXIX. 

Montgomery surrounded with Difficulties. — Lays a Plan of Attack before 
A Council of Officers. — Difficulties with some of Arnold's Officers. — Mont- 
gomery's last Letter to Schuyler. — Plan of Attack agreed upon. — Attf.mpts 

TO CARRY it INTO EFFECT. — TlIB ArMY IN TWO DIVISIONS. — MONTGOMERY LEADS 
ONE ALONG THE St. La WRENCE.— IIiS HOPEFULNESS AND BuAVERY. — HiS DEATH 
AND RePUUSE of HtS TrooPS. — McPlIEF.SON AND ClIEF.SMAN. — .\UNOLD LEADS THE 

OTHER Division. — He is AVounded. — Morgan in Co.mmand. — Desperate En- 
counter — Capture of Dearborn. — The Americans made Prisoners. — Dispo- 
sition OF THE Troops. — Effects of Montgomery's Death.— Procef.dings in Ke- 
lation to It.— Scene in tub British Parliament 493 



LIFE AND TIMES 



or 



PHILIP SCHUYLER. 



CHAPTER I. 

About thirty years after Albany, the capital of the 
State of New York, was founded by the erection of Fort 
Orange upon its site, and half that length of time before 
the English conquest gave new masters to the province and 
new names to the principal settlements, a serious disturb- 
ance occurred in the Httle village that had grown up along 
the bank of the Hudson, near that earliest regular fortifi- 
cation erected by the Dutch in America. At that time, 
Beverwyck,* as the village around Fort Orange was called, 
contained about one hundred houses, seated along a single 
street in regular line, with gardens between, and here and 
there a stray one upon the slope whereon broad State street 
now reposes. Around these, in a figure of septangular 
form, were palisades for defense against the savages or other 
foes ; and in due time several minor fortifications, holding 
allegiance to Fort Orange, were interhnked by these de- 
fenses. 

* The Mohegau name of Albany was Pem-po-ta-wuth-ut, or " place of 
fire" — a council ground. 



18 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [1647. 

North of Albany was the seat of the Patroon of Rens- 
selaerwyck, called the Colonic, where the representatives of 
the lord of that superb manor that stretched along the 
Mauritius, as the Hudson river was then called, north and 
south, east and west from Fort Orange, over an area of al- 
most a thousand square miles, assumed an independence of 
the ser\ants of the Dutch West India Company, by whom 
the purchase of this large domain from the Indians had 
been confirmed.* That assumed independence, and the 
jietty tyranny of the Commissary, as the commander of 
Fort Orange was called, became, in the course of time, 
productive of bitter blood. 

Killian Van Rensselaer, the first Patroon, and lord of 
this manor, never came to America. Johannes, his son and 
heir, likewise never saw the noble domain of which he was 
proprietor. The management of the great estate was en- 
trusted to agents. When Killian died, Johannes was a 
minor, and his uncle, Van Wyley, and Woutcr Van Twil- 
ler, who had been to America previously to examine the 
lands in the neighborhood of Fort Orange, became his 
guardians. Brant Arent Van Slechtenhorst, of Niewkerke, 
in Guilderland, was commissioned Director of the Colonie, 
President of the Court of Justice, and immediate manager 
of tlie whole estate of the Patroon. He came over with his 
family in 1647, the same year when Peter Stuyvesant ar- 
rived at New Amsterdam as governor or director-general 
of the province. Being an energetic man, full of loyalty 

* For the purpose of encouraging emigration to New Notherland, tho 
Dutch West India Company oflered, in IG20, large tracts of land and certain 
privileges to those persons who should lead or send a given number of emi- 
grants to occupy and t 'dl tho soil. The land was to be fairly purchased of the 
Indiau.s. and the title was to be confirmed by tho Company. The proprietors 
were called patroons, (patrons,) and held a high poUtical and social station in 
tho New World. 



1650.] HEADSTRONG DUTCHMEN. 19 

to his young master, and inspired with that Dutch sj^irit 
of independence that was born centuries before among 
the Batavian marshes, he became a practical rival in au- 
thority, not only of the Commissary at Fort Orange, but 
of Stuyvesant himself. 

From the first attempt to plant patroon colonies in 
New Netherland, the directors of the Amsterdam chamber 
of the West India Company had been jealous of them, 
and Stuyvesant, and his immediate predecessors in office, 
used every fair means to wijje out those already in exist- 
ence. Two of them were purchased of the grantees, but 
neither money, threats, nor pei'suasions could induce the 
proprietors of Rensselaerwyck to relinquish that princely 
estate. The company therefore determined to weaken a 
power which they could not suppress by purchase, and 
Governor Stuyvesant and Commissioner Van Slechten- 
horst became obstinate champions of rival interests. The 
former claimed general jurisdiction over the whole province; 
the latter acknowledged no authority within the domains 
of Rensselaerwyck outside of Fort Orange, except that of 
the Fatroon himself. 

For three years the quarrel went on, when a call for a 
subsidy from Rensselaerwyck, made by Governor Stuyves- 
ant, produced a crisis. Commissioner Van Slechtenhorst 
went to New Amsterdam to remonstrate with the s-qv- 
ernor. Both were equally unyielding, and high words en- 
sued at their separation. As it was the custom of Peter 
the Headstrong to use the logic of physical force against 
an opponent when oral argument failed, he caused Van 
Slechtenhorst to be visited that day, before he had finished 
his dinner, by an officer charged to bring him before the 
director-g3ueral and council. By these he was imme- 
diately condemned as an unruly subject, and when he asked 



20 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [1652. 

" Can a man be condemned unheard ?" he was answered 
by an arrest. He was detained four months on Manhattan 
Ishind, when he escaped in a sloop and returned to the 
Colonie. At about that time Jean Baptiste Van Kens- 
selaer, the first of that name who came to America, 
appeared at Beverwyck, and was elected one of the mag- 
istrates. Very soon after this, an order was issued, requir- 
ing all the freemen and other inhabitants to take the oath 
of allegiance to the Patroon and his representative. 

The disturbance alluded to now occurred. On New 
Year's night, 1652, some soldiers, armed with match-locks, 
issued from the fort and fired several shots at the Pati-oon's 
house. The reed-coverod roof was ignited by the burning 
gun-wads, and for a while the mansion was in inmiinent 
peril. Hard words passed between the soldiers and the 
friends of the Patroon; and on the following day a &on of 
Commissioner Van Slechtenliorst was assailed in the street 
by some of the former, badly beaten, and dragged through 
the mud, while Johannes Dyckman, the West India Com- 
pany's commissary at Fort Orange, stood by and encour- 
aged them, saying, " Let him have it now, and the devil 
take him !" Young Van Slechtenliorst found a champion in 
Philip Pietersen Schuyler, a spirited young gentleman from 
Amsterdam, who, a little more than a year before had mar- 
ried the victim's sister Margaret. Young Schuyler endeav- 
ored to save his brother-in-law, when Dyckman drew his 
sword and threatened to run him through. A general fracas 
ensued, but ended without serious bloodshed. 

Here we will leave the actors in this quarrel, the events 
and results of which are recorded In history. Nor will we 
further display the chronicles of the manor and of the 
province. The curtain has been thus slightly lifted from 
the interesting pictiye of the past, tliat a glimpse might 



1650.] FIRST SCHUYLER IN AMERICA. 21 

"be had of the first of the Schuyler family wlio appeared in 
America, the lineal ancestor of the one whose character 
and services will be portrayed in the pages that follow. 

Of the antecedents of Philip Pietersen Schuyler, who 
first appears in history in the famous quarrel at Bever- 
wyck, we have no positive knowledge. Wc only know that 
he came to the New World from Amsterdam, in Holland, 
in the year 1650. Tradition says that his family were mer- 
chants in that old city, were connected with the West In- 
dia Company, and had a country seat near Dordrecht. 
Ancient pieces of silver plate, with tlie family arms* and 
year marks engraved on them, yet in possession of some of 
the descendants of Van Slechtenhorst's son-in-law, attest 
the opulence of the family previous to the appearance of 
Philip Pietersen in America. 

The marriage of young Schuyler and Margaret Van 
Slechtenhorst was celebrated at Kensselaerwyck on the 
12th of December, 1650. The nuptial rites were performed 
by Anthony de Hooges, the Secretary of the Colonie, in 
the presence of the officers of Fort Orange, the magnates 
of Rensselaerwyck, and of some of the principal inhabi- 
tants. These were the ancestors of the Schuyler family in 
America. 

* The arms of the Schuyler family are as follows : Escutcheon argent, a 
falcon sahle, hooded g'di's, beaked and membered or, perched upon the sinis- 
ter hand of the falconer, issued from the dexter side of the shield. The arm 
clouhed azure, surmounted by a helmet of steel, standing in profile, open- 
faced, three bars or, lined gults, bordered, flowered and studded or, and orna- 
mented with its lambrequins argent lined sable. Crest — out of a wreath, 
argent and sable, a falcon of the shield. 

In the original genealogical record of the family in the Dutch language, 
the name of the first emigrant, who arrived in 1650, is written Philip Pieter- 
sen Von Schuyler, which may be translated Philip, son of Peter, from Schuy- 
ler. No doubt the latter was the name of the place where the family resided, 
and had been recently adopted as a surname, as it is not found as such 
in the records of Holland at that time. 



22 r HI LIP SCHUYLER. [1690. 

Margaret Van Slechtcnliorst was two-and-twenty years 
of age when she married young Schuyler, and ten children 
were the fruitful results of their union.* She lived sixty 
years after her nui)tials, and survived her husband more 
than a quarter of a century. She possessed great energy of 
c]iaracter and indejiendence of spirit, like her father ; and 
after her husband's death her wealth and position enabled 
her to exercise a controlling influence in public affairs at Al- 
bany. In 1689 she advanced funds to pay troops at Albany; 
and it is asserted that toward the close of that year she 
made a personal assault upon Milborne, the soti-in-law of 
Jacob Leisler, (the usurper, as he was called, of political 
power at New York,) when he came to Albany to assume 
command of the fort, then under charge of her second son 
Peter, the eminent mayor of that city, and commander of 
the militia in the northern department of the province. 

Peter inherited the talents and virtues of his parents, 
and for many years was one of the most prominent men in 
the province. He was mayor of Albany from 1686 until 
1694, and was the first chosen chief magistrate of that city 
after its incorporation in 1683, the year before his father 
died.f In 1G88 he was commissioned major of the militia, 
and toward the close of the following year he was placed 
in command of the fort at Albany, It was about that 
time that Milborne went up with some armed men to take 
Schuyler's place, but the latter, aided by some Mohawk 

* These were Guysbert, Gertrude, (who married Stephanas Van Cort- 
landt,) Alida, (who married, first. Reverend Nicholas Van Rensselaer, and 
second, Robert Livingston, the first lord of the manor of Livingston, on the 
Hudson,) Pieter, Brant, Arent, Sybilla, Piiilip, Johannes, and Margretta. — 
Pi-om Dutch Genealogical Manuscript, translated by S. Alofsen, Esq. 

\ Philip Pieterscn Schuyler died on the 9th of March, 16S4:, and was 
buried, on the 11th of the same month, in the ancient Dutch Church at Al- 
bany, that stood in the center of State street at the intersection of Broadway. 
His will bears date " Tuesday evening, May 1, 1 633."' — Dutch .Wantiscript. 



1690.] EXPEDITION TO THE ST. LAWRENCE. 23 

Indians who were in the neighborhood, successfully resisted 
his pretensions. Over the Mohawks, the most nohle of the 
nations of the Iroquois confederation, Peter Schuyler then 
had almost unbounded control ; and until that league was 
broken, and the nations had dwindJed to a few hundreds 
in the State of New York, at the close of the last century, 
the Schuyler family had no competitors in influence and 
friendship with those sons of the forest except Sir William 
Johnson. They always treated the Indian as a brother and 
friend, dealt honorably with him, and never deceived him 
in word or deed. 

John, the youngest brother of Major Schuyler, was an 
active young man at this time ; athletic, brave, and full of 
military aspirations. He was the paternal grandfather of 
General Philip Schuyler. When, in February, 1690, a 
party of French and Indians came from the north, and at 
midnight set fire to Schenectada, and butchered the unsus- 
pecting inhabitants, the vengeance of this young man was 
powerfully stirred, and he sought and obtained the com- 
mand of a small force of white people and Indians, with 
which to penetrate the country of the enemy on the bor- 
ders of the St. Lawrence. He was theti only twenty-two 
years of age. He received a captain's commission, and in 
August he set out " with twenty-nine Christians, and one 
hundred and twenty savages," whom he recruited at the 
foot of Lake Champlain " to go to Canada to fight the 
enemy." They went down the Lake in canoes, penetrated 
to Laprairie, destroyed considerable property, took quite a 
number of prisoners, and returned with little loss, after an 
absence of seventeen days. The journal of this expedition, 
kept by Captain Schuyler, reveals the fact that the elk 
deer were very abundant in northern New York at that 
time. They have now entirely disappeared. 



24 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [1710. 

In Juno, the following year, Major Peter Schuyler led 
a small force into Canada. It consisted of " Christians, 
120 ; Mohawques, 80 ; R. (River or Mohegan) Indians, 
66."* They followed the route taken by Captain Schuy- 
i -r, went down the Sorel or Richelieu to the rapids above 
•Jhamblce, and penetrated to Laprairie. A Mohawk de- 
serter left the camp near Chamblee, and informed the 
French of the approach of the invaders. The latter were 
thus prepared for the reception of the former, and well 
defended their fort at Laprairie. After several skirmishes, 
the expedition returned to Albany toward the close of Au- 
gust, with a loss of nineteen white men and savages. 
" Thought by all," says Major Schuyler, in his journal, 
" to have killed about two hundred French and Indians."f 

From this time the two brothers were engaged almost 
continually in public life. The former became first a mem- 
ber, and then President of his Majesty's Council for the 
Province of New York. For a short time he was acting 
governor of the colony, and for many yeara he was chief 
commissioner for Indian afiairs. In 1710 he went to Eng- 
land with four Indian chiefs, who were representatives of 
four nations that composed the Iroquois confederacy. These, 
and the nations they represented, were much attached to 
Schuyler, whom they familiarly called " Brother Queder." 
They were taken to Britain for a twofold purpose : First, 
to have these heads of the tribes impressed with the great- 
ness of the English nation, and thereby detach the waver- 
ing ones from the French interest ; and, Secondly, to arouse 
the British government to the necessity of assisting the 
Americans in expelHng the French from Canada, whose 

* Major Schuyler's "Journal of the Expedition." 

f Coklcn, in his "History of the Five Xaiions," saj's the Fronch lost two 
captains, six lioutonanta, and tiiree hundred mon. 



1713.] AN EMBASSY TO CANADA. 25 

hostility to the English colonists, and whose influence over 
the savage tribes were daily increasing. Colonel Schuyler 
bore an address to Queen Anne from the Colonial Assem- 
bly of New York, and he and his confederate " kings," as 
they were called, were treated with distinuished honor.* 

Captain John Schuyler, meanwhile, was serving his 
country faithfully in both civil and military employments. 
In September, 1698, Governor Bellomont sent him to Can- 
ada with a message to Count Frontenac, respecting the de- 
signs of the latter toward the Five Nations and the English. 
He visited Quebec and Montreal ; " felt the pulse" of the 
Indians on his journey ; made careful observations of the 
strength and condition of the French, and gave the gov- 
ernor of Canada an exalted idea of the great military 
power which the Earl of Bellomont might command — 
" One hundred thousand men, rather more than less," he 
said. This mission was successful, and in May, the follow- 
ing year, he and John Bleecker were appointed commis- 
sioners to hold a general council with the Five Nations at 
Onondaga Castle. He was an Indian commissioner for a 
great many years, and his name appears frequently in the 
colonial records of the period between 1701 and 1730 as 
one of the most active of the servants of the government 
in keeping the Iroquois in alliance with the English. He 
was chosen to a seat in the Colonial Assembly in 1705, and 
held that position until 1713. From that time until the 
kindling of our old war for independence, the name of 
Schuyler appears almost continually among those of the 
representatives of the people in the legislature of the 
province of New York. 

Captain John Schuyler was married to Elizabeth Staats, 

* For an interesting account of this embassy, see Drake's Booh of the In- 
dians. 

2 



26 P II I L I P S C H U Y L E R . [173:?. 

widow of John Wendell, in April, 1695. The ceremony 
was performed by Dominie Dcllius, minister of the Dutch 
Church at Albany. In that church they were buried, the 
wife in 1737. and the husband ten years afterward. Their 
eldest son, John, was born early in the autumn of 1697, 
and was baptized on the 31st of October, when Kobert 
Livingston, Jacob Staats, (the child's uncles by marriage,) 
and his aunt, Maria Schuyler, who held him in her arms, 
were the sponsors. Being the eldest son, he was heir- 
expectant to the real estate of his father, which, before 
his death, became large in amount, he having purchased 
several valuable tracts from the Indians in the vicinity of 
Albany, and in the Mohawk country. 

This son of the active Captain Schuyler does not ap- 
pear prominent in history. lie married his cousin Cornelia, 
youngest child of Stephen Van Cortlandt, of New York, 
by whom he had reasonable expectations of considerable 
wealth, that aristocratic Dutch family then ranking among 
the most opulent in the province. He appears to have 
lived the quiet life of a gentleman of leisure. He died in 
1741, six years before his father's death, and was buried in 
the little family cemetery of Colonel Peter Schuyler, at 
The Flats, (now Watervliet,) as the place of that gentle- 
man's residence was called. He left five small children, his 
eldest son, Philip, the subject of this memoir, being only 
eight years of age. Philip was born at the family man- 
sion in Albany, on the 22d of November, 1733, and, like 
Dr. Franklin, was baj)tized on the day of his birth. 



CHAPTER II. ^ 

At the period of Philip Schuyler's birth, the political 
and social aspect of the province of New York was pecu- 
liar and interesting. The atmosphere of free thought and 
action, composed of the congenial ingredients of the spirit 
of barbaric life in the neighboring forests, a traditional and 
inherent hatred of oppression and undue restraint, and a 
sense of equality of condition that had for a hundred years 
more and more distinguished the inhabitants of the prov- 
ince, nm-tured into strength and activity, in his youth and 
early manhood, those physical and mental qualities which 
gave him preeminence during a long and eventful life. 

Democracy in its broadest and purest sense — the idea 
of civil government lodged in the hands of the people — 
found in the province of New York a most congenial soil 
for its germination, efflorescence and fruitage. The seed 
was wafted across the Atlantic by gales of persecution, 
from almost every land in western Europe, where the 
ria;hts of conscience had been assailed — where the sancti- 
ties of private life and the shrine of the spirit had been in- 
vaded. These found lodgment and took root upon the 
shores of the broad and beautiful bay of New York, (then 
New Amsterdam,) while Dutch power, tempered with that 
divine toleration which had made Holland an asylum for 
the persecuted, bore rule in New Netherland. 

And when the wicked Kieft, in his perplexity and fear, 
unintentionally called the elements of representative gov- 



28 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [173a 

ernment into actual activity by asking the heads of twelve 
families to sit in council with him concerning a war with 
the Indians, which his unrighteousness had provoked, the 
inhabitants of that province presented a truly sublime 
spectacle. The Hollanders and Swedes upon Manhattan 
and in Nova Ca3sarea, the Waldenses upon Staten Island, 
and the Walloons and English upon Long Island, who had 
found in these forest regions a sure refuge from persecu- 
tion, hved in harmony and sweet accord, unmindful of the 
diversity of creeds that shajied the forms of their worsliip 
of Almighty God. From the vineyards of France, from 
the sunny valleys of Piedmont, from the picturesque banks 
of the Khine, from stormy England — stormy in fact and 
figure — and from the sterile soil and intolerant spirit of the 
Pilgrim land on the shores of Massachusetts Bay, refugees 
soon came, and the wise and generous Hollanders who held 
the sceptre of governmental 2)ower gave all a hearty wel- 
come, nor questioned them concerning the secrets between 
man and his Maker. " The government favored no curious 
inquiry into the faith of any man," but considered that an 
expressed desire for citizenship implied a willingness to 
take a solemn oath of allegiance to the commonwealth, and 
that oath was the only test. When it was once taken, the 
allegiance carried with it all the sanctions of a sacrament ; 
and citizenship, as in some other colonial communities, did 
not rest chiefly nor at aU. upon particular church member- 
ship. 

Such was the broad base upon which rested a commer- 
cial and cosmopolitan republic in the New World, seated 
at the open door to a vast inland trade and future civiliza- 
tion ; while another republic, gi'cater in numerical strength, 
physical force, and breadth of domain and influence flour- 
ished deep in the interior. That republic was the Iroquois 



1733.] THE IROQUOIS CONFEDERACY. 29 

confederacy of five nations of Indians, whose origin must 
be sought among the primitive people of the earth, and 
whose league was formed long before Cavalier and Puritan, 
Hollander and Huguenot, inspired the free air of the west- 
ern continent. They called themselves Aquanuschioni — 
" united people," and they claimed to have sprung from 
the soil on which they dwelt, like the trees of the wilder- 
ness.* 

With these people the early settlers of New Nether- 
land, and for a hundred years the Schuyler family in par- 
ticular, had much to do as traders in peace, and as allies or 
as enemies in war. In their political arrangements they 
exhibited features in common with the Hollanders. Their 
confederacy was composed of separate independent com- 
munities, having distinct municipal laws, like the United 
Provinces of Holland, and no one nation held a preeminent 
position in the constitution of the league. They were 
originally five republics, confederated for mutual defense 
and conquest, and they were known as the Five Nations 
until they were joined by the Tuscaroras, a community of 
Southern Iroquois, who were expelled from the Carolinas 
early in the last century. Then they became the Six Na- 
tions, whose history is closely interwoven with that of 
New York and Pennsylvania for three quarters of a cen- 
tury. They were called respectively Mohawks, Oneidas, 
Onondagas, Cayugas, Senecas and Tuscaroras; and each na- 
tion was divided into three tribes, distinguished by separate 

* Iroquois is a purely French word, composed, however, of the Indian 
ejxpressions Hiro and Kone. Tho former, signifying " I have said it," waa 
used at the close of every speech made by the Indians to the discoverers of 
the St. Lawrence; the latter expresses tho sound of a cry of joy or other 
emotion. So the French called these tribes with whom they became first ac- 
quainted Hiro-Kone, and the name was written Ieoquois. — Gliarlevoix. 



30 P H I L I P SC H U Y L ER. [1733. 

TOTEMS, or heraldic insignia representing the animals after 
which the se2:)arate families were named. 

The Six Nations fancifully called their confederacy 
the Long House. The eastern door was kept by the Mo- 
hawks, the western by the Senecas, and the great council 
fire was with the Onondagas, at the federal metropolis or 
chief village, near the present city of Syracuse. Each 
tribe was governed by its own sachem or civil head, whose 
position and authority depended wholly upon his ability 
^nd faithfulness, in the opinion of his people. They were 
warlike, and yet agriculture was so extensively practiced, 
especially among the Senecas, that the confederacy was 
sometimes called Konosliioni — " cabin builders." They had 
a war-path along the borders of the Alleghany mountains, 
and by this they made military excursions to the distant 
domains of the Catawbas and Cherokees, in the beautiful 
upper country of the South, and caused the fierce Shawnees 
of the Ohio valley to tremble. They made hostile expedi- 
tions against the New England Indians on the east, and tlie 
Erics, Andastes, and Miamis on the West ; and when the 
Dutch began the settlement of New Netherland, all the 
Indians on Long Island and the northern shore of the 
Sound, and on the banks of the Connecticut, Hudson, 
Delaware and Susquehanna rivers, were tributaries and in 
subjection to the Five Nations. At the same time they in- 
habited villages, cultivated extensive fields and orchards, 
and traded for and near with the French and Ens-lish. 

The Iroquois possessed an exalted spirit of liberty, and 
they spurned with disdain every foreign or domestic shackle 
of control. Almost a hundred years before Jefferson wrote 
the Declaration of Independence, G-aPvANGula, a venerable 
Onondaga sachem, said to the governor-general of Canada, 
who had nvnaccd the league with distraction, "We are 



1686.] CHARTER OF LIBERTIES. 31 

BORN FREE. We neither depend on Yonondio nor Corlear. 
We may go where we please, and cany with us ivhom we 
please, and buy and sell what we please."* 

Such were the people with whom the Dutch settlers in 
the interior of New Netherland were brought into imme- 
diate contact; and from the hour when the latter established 
a trading house at Albany, or Beverwyck, to the close of 
the old war for independence, the Six Nations occupy a 
large space in the history of the province. And from the 
reign of William and Mary until far into that of George 
the Third, the name of Schuyler appears prominent among 
Indian commissioners, for that family were peerless in their 
influence over the dusky tribes of New York, except when 
Sir William Johnson ruled like a nabob in the Mohawk 
valley. 

The innate love of freedom possessed by the Dutch, 
and its practical illustrations in the daily life of the Mo- 
hawks, who held continual intercourse with the settlers at 
Albany, made the idea of democracy a fixed principle in 
the minds and hearts of those settlers and their posterity. 
For twenty years after the change from Dutch to English 
rule they had felt the unrelenting heel of oppression. Then 
they were made glad by the presentation of a Charter of 
Liberties, by the liberal minded Dongan, by which they 
were allowed to adopt a Declaration of Rights, establish a 
representative government, and fearlessly assert the gi'eat 

* Drake's Book of the Indians. Yonondio was the name they gave to 
the governors of Canada ; and they called those of New York Corleae, in 
lienor of a humane Dutchman of that name, who lived at Schenectada. and 
was greatly beloved by the Mohawks. Because of kind services rendered, 
the governor of Canada invited him to his capital. On his way Corlear was 
drowned in Lake Champlain. For a long time the Indians, in memory of 
their friend, called it Corlear's Lake, and in their speeches and treaties desig- 
nated the governor of New York by the title of " Corlear." 



32 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [1735. 

doctrine of the Revolution, that led to independence almost 
a hundred years later, that taxation and representa- 
tion ARE INSEPARABLE. They Were steadfast in their sup- 
port of the principles of popular sovereignty represented 
by Jacob Leisler, when the mongrel aristocracy of New 
York city pursued him with scorn, malice and falsehood, 
and murdered him upon the scaffold. And fivc-and-forty 
years later there was great joy among the Dutch through- 
out the province when, two years after Philip Schuyler was 
born, the liberty of the press was vindicated by the tri- 
umphant acquittal of John Peter Zenger, the publisher of 
a democratic newspaper, who was tried for a libel because 
he had spoken the truth in his Journal concerning the 
English governor and public affairs. 

That trial, which took place in the summer of 1735, 
was the commencement of a stormy pe'riod of forty years 
in the political history of New York, during which time 
the opposing elements of democracy and aristocracy con- 
tended vigorously for ascendancy in the social and reli- 
gious life of the province. From the departure of Corn- 
bury until the arrival of Colonel Cosby, in 1732, the royal 
representatives, six in number, unable or unwilling to resist 
the will of the people, as expressed by the j^opular assem- 
bly, allowed democratic principles to gi'ow and flourish. 
When Cosby arrived they had taken deep root in the popu- 
lar heart, for Rip Van Dam, an honest Dutch merchant, 
"the -man of the people" — who for thirteen months after 
the death of Montgomerie had been acting governor of the 
province, by virtue of his senior membership in the coun- 
cil, encouraged and fostered its gi'owth. 

Between Van Dam and Cosby there was no affinity, 
and they soon quarreled. Two violent parties arose — as 
violent, perhaps, as the Liesler and anti-Leisler jiarties — 



1735.J FKEEDOMOF THE PRESS. 33 

namely, the Democratic, whicli sided with Van Dam, and 
the Aristocratic, which supported the governor. Each 
party had the control of a newspaper, and the war of 
words raged violently for a long time. The governor, un- 
able to compete successfully with his opponents, ordered 
Zenger, the publisher of the Democratic paper, to be ar- 
rested on a charge of libel. He was cast into prison and 
confined there for thirty-five weeks, when he was tried by 
a jury, was nobly defended by the eminent Andrew Ham- 
ilton of Philadelphia, and was acquitted. 9 

This verdict was greeted with applause by a great ma- 
jority of the people, and the magistrates of New York 
presented the freedom of the city, in a gold box, to Mr. 
Hamilton, "for his learned and generous defense of the 
rights of mankind and the liberty of the press." Thus 
was distinctly drawn the line of demarcation between the 
EepubHcans and Loyalists — the Whigs and Tories — in the 
province of New York, which appeared prominent until 
the war for independence was closed in 1783. That verdict 
gave immense strength to republican principles, not only 
in New York, but throughout the Anglo-American col- 
onies, for sagacious men saw in the liberty of the press the 
wings of free thought plumed for a wide and glorious flight. 
"The trial of Zenger in 1735," said Gouverneur Morris to 
Dr. John W. Francis, "was the germ of American freedom 
— the morning star of that liberty which subsequently revo- 
lutionized America." 

It was in the midst of the contentions of these political 
parties, and the excitement caused by the hostile attitude 
of the French in Canada and in the east, that the youth and 
early manhood of Philip Schuyler were passed ; and as he 
belonged to, and was connected by blood and marriage with 
most of the wealthier and more influential families in the 

2* 



34 rniLiP schuyler. [1735. 

province, he must have been early impressed by the current 
disputes which agitated society, and stirred by desires to 
participate in the active scenes of public life. 

During the earlier years of Philij) Schuyler's life, society 
at Albany was favorable to the development of every good 
and noble quality in its members. It was more purely 
Dutch than at New York, and had not yet become contam- 
inated by the presence of troops and the general introduction 
of artificial manners and extravagant habits. That ancient 
,town, in the course of a century, had gradually expanded 
from a trading post and hamlet to quite a stately inland 
city of three hundred and fifty houses, with its mayor, and 
recorder, and aldermen, and representatives in the colonial 
Legislature. It had tAvo houses of worship, one in which 
the English, and the other the Dutch language was used. 
It was next in size and wealth to New York, then contain- 
ing eight times as many building.s, and a mixed commercial 
population, rapidly increasing in wealth and importance. 

The houses in Albany were very neat within and with- 
out. They were built chiefly of stone or brick, and covered 
with white pine shingles, or tiles from Holland. Most of 
them had terraced gables fronting the street, with gutters 
extending from the eaves beyond the side-walks to carry 
off the rain water. "These," says Kalm, the Swedish na- 
turalist, who visited Albany in 1748, "preserve the walls 
from being damaged by the rain ; but it is extremely dis- 
agreeable for tlie people in the streets, there being hardly 
any means of avoiding the water from the gutters." On 
that account the streets were almost impassable during a 
storm of wind and rain. 

The streets were broad, and some of them were paved, 
and lined with shade trees. In proportion to its popula- 
tion, tlie town occupied a large space of ground. Every 



1735.] DOMESTIC LIFE AT ALBANY. 35 

house had its garden and pleasant grass plat in the rear, 
bearing fruit and vegetables in abundance. Before every 
door a tree was planted, which was often interesting as a 
memento of the birth of some beloved member of the 
family. Some of these had now reached a great size, and 
they were of almost every variety suitable to the climate. 
These formed agreeable shade for the porches or " stoops," 
which were elevated a little above the street and furnished 
with spacious seats. " It was in these," says Mrs. Grant, 
of Laggan,* " that each domestic group was seated in 
summer evenings to enjoy the balmy twiHght or the se- 
renely clear moonlight. Each family had a cow, fed in a 
common pasture at the end of the town. In the evening 
tlie herd returned altogether, of their own accord, with 
their tinkling bells hung at their necks, along the wide and 
grassy street to their wonted sheltering trees, to be milked 
at their masters' doors. Notliing could be more pleasing 
to a simple and benevolent mind than to see thus, at one 
view, all the inhabitants of a town, which contained not 
one very rich or very poor, very knowing or very ignorant, 
very rude or very polished individual — to see all these 

* Mrs. Grant was the daughter of Duncan McYickar, a Scotch officer in 
the British army, who came to America when his child was an infant. He 
remained in the service here until she was thirteen years of age. During the last 
3'ears of their residence in America, she was much among the Schuylers and 
Van Rensselaers at Albany and its vicinity. Every thing made a deep im- 
pression on her mind, and under the title of '■^Memoirs of an American 
Lady" she has given charming sketches of society at Albany before the Revo-- 
lutiou. 

She afterward married Mr. Grant, a young chaplain in the army, and re- 
sided many years at Laggan. She is generally known as "Mrs. Grant of 
Laggan," to distinguish her fi-om her cotemporary, Mrs. Grant of Carron. 
Mrs. Grant's volume, from which we quote, was published in 1808. She has 
fallen into many errors respecting the names and relationship of the Schuyler 
family, and in that particular her book is wholly unreliable. But her sketches 
of life and character are faithful. 



36 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [1735. 

children of nature enjoying in easy indolence or social in- 
tercourse, 

' The cool, the fragrant, aud the dusky hour,' 

clothed in the plainest habits, and with minds as undis- 
guised and artless. These primitive beings were dispersed 
in porches, grouped according to similarity of years and 
inclinations. At one door were young matrons, at anotlier 
the elders of the people, at a third the youths and maidens, 
gayl} chatting or singing together, while the children i)layed 
round the trees, or waited by the cows for the chief ingre- 
dient of their frugal supper, which they generally ate sit- 
ting on the steps in the open air."* 

There the gossip of either sex, who delights in retailing 
Blander or idle talk from house to house was unknown, for 
intercourse was so free, and open hearted friendship so 
prevalent, that there was no aliment for the sustenance, nor 
a sphere of action for such a creature. And the politician 
proper, whose dogmatism is so offensive, seldom disturbed 
these social gatherings. These, even so late as the begin- 
ning of the present century, took their pipes and chaii's 
every pleasant afternoon, and, seating themselves in the 
Market House, settled, in their respective opinions, the 
nature and tendency of the public affairs of the colony and 
of the realm. 

In Albany, at certain times, the gayety of a colonial 
court would appear. That was when the governor of the 
province, with his secretary and others, ascended the Hud- 
son and visited the city to hold conferences with the chiefs 
and sachems of one or more of the Six Nations. On these 
occasions the Van Rerisselaers, the Schuylers, the Wessels, 
the Tenbroecks, the Lansings, the Staats', the Bleeckers, 

* Memoirs of an American Lady. 



1735.] INTERCOURSE WITH THE INDIANS. 37 

the Ten Eycks, and other leading families, kept open house, 
and the most generous hospitality prevailed. Balls, parties, 
and simple amusements of every kind then known, were 
interspersed with the proceedings of grave conferences with 
stately savages, while the governer remained. 

There, too, at the close of the hunting season, the In- 
dians were seen coming by scores, with the spoils of the 
forests and the inland waters ; for at tliat time there was 
no place in the British colonies, except the Hudson's Bay 
settlements, where such quantities of fui's and skins were 
bought of the Indians as at Albany. The merchants or 
their clerks spent the whole summer at Oswego, on Lake 
Ontario, the chief trading place in the Indian country ; and 
the dusky hunters and trappers would frequently come 
from the banks of the St. Lawrence and beyond, laden 
with beaver skins belonging to themselves or to French 
traders, notwithstanding a heavy penalty was incurred by 
carrying furs from Canada to the English settlements. 
This intercourse between vigorous, sinewy, barbaric rude- 
ness, rugged as the gnarled oak, and a beautiful, simple 
civilization, untouched by the rheum or the canker of lux- 
urious life, acting and reacting upon each, gave strength 
and force to one, and tenderness and polish to the other, 
and thus worked in salutary harmony. 

Notwithstanding there was great equality in Albany 
society, there was a peculiar custom prevalent until near 
the time of the kindling of the Revolution, which aj-jpeared 
somewhat exclusive in its character. The young people 
were arranged in congenial companies, composed of an 
equal number of both sexes. Children from five to eight 
years of age were admitted into these companies, and the 
association continued until maturity. Each company was 
generally under a sort of control by authority lodged in the 



38 V II I L I P S C U U Y L E R . []735. 

hands of a boy and girl, who happened to possess some 
natural preeminence in size or ability. They met fre- 
quently, enjoyed amusements together, grew up to matur- 
ity with a perfect knowledge of each other, and the results, 
in general, were happy and suitable marriages. In the sea- 
son of early flowers, they all went out together to gather 
the gaudy blossoms of the May apple ; and in August they 
went together to the forests on the neighboring hills to 
gather whortleberries, or later still, to pluck the rich clus- 
ters of the wild grape, each being furnislied with a light 
basket made by the expert Indian women. 

Each member of a company was permitted to entertain 
all the rest on his or her birthday, on which occasion the 
elders of the family were bound to be absent, leaving only 
a faithful servant to have a general supervision of affairs, 
and to prepare the entertainment. This gave the young 
people entire freedom, and they enjoyed it to the fullest 
extent. Tliey generally met at four o'clock in the after- 
noon, and separated at nine or ten in the evening. On 
these occasions there would be ample provisions of tea, 
chocolate, fresh and preserved fruits, nuts, cakes, cider and 
syllabub. 

These early and exclusive intimacies naturally ripened 
into pure and lasting friendships and aftectionate attach- 
ments, and happy marriages resulted. So universal was 
the practice of forming unions for life among the members 
of these circles, that it came to be considered a kind of 
apostacy to marry out of one's " company." Love, thus 
born in the atmosphere of innocence and candor, and nour- 
ished by similarity of education, tastes, and aspirations, 
seldom lost any of its vitality ; and inconstancy and indif- 
ference among married couples were so rare as to be almost 
unlieard of exceptions to a general rule. They usually 



1735.J RURAL PLEASURES. 39 

married early, were blessed with, liigli physical and mental 
heaUh, and the extreme love which they bore to their off- 
spring made those parents ever dear to each other under 
the discipline of every possible vicissitude. The children 
were reared in great simplicity ; and except being taught 
to love and adore the great Author of their being and their 
blessings, they were permitted to follow the dictates of their 
nature, ranging at full liberty in the open air, covered in 
summer with a light and cheap garment, which protected 
them from the sun, and in winter with warm clothing, 
made according to the dictates of convenience, comfort and 
health. 

The summer amusements of the young were simjjle, 
healthful and joyous. Their principal pleasure consisted in 
what we now callj^ic-iiics, enjoyed either upon the beautiful 
islands in the river near Albany, which were then covered 
with grass and shrubbery, tall trees and clustering vines, 
or in the forests on the hills. When the warm days of 
spring and early summer appeared, a company of young 
men and maidens would set out at sunrise in a canoe for 
the islands, or in light wagons for " the bush," where they 
would frequently meet a similar party on the same delight- 
ful errand. Each maiden, taught from early childhood to 
be industrious, would take her work basket with her, and 
a supply of tea, sugar, coffee, and other materials for a 
frugal breakfast, while the young men carried some rum 
and drietl fruit to make a light cool j)unch for a mid-day 
beverage. But no previous preparations were made for din- 
ner except bread and cold pastry, it being expected that 
the young men would bring an ample supply of game and 
fish from the woods and the waters, provisions having been 
made by the girls of apparatus for cooking, the use of 
which was familiar to them all. After dinner the com- 



40 PniLlP SCHUYLER. [1735. 

pany vroukl pair off in couples, according to attachments 
and affinities, sometimes brothers and sisters together, and 
sometimes warm friends or ardent lovers, and stroll in all 
directions, gathering wild strawberries or other fruit in sum- 
mer, and plucking the abundant flowers, to be arranged into 
boquets to adorn their little parlors and give pleasure to 
their parents. Sometimes they would remain abroad until 
sunset, and take tea in the open air ; or they would call 
upon some friend on their way home, and partake of a 
light evening meal. In all this there appeared no conven- 
tional restraints upon the innocent inclinations of nature. 
The day was always remembered as one of pure enjoyment, 
without the passage of a single cloud of regret. 

The winter amusements in Albany were few and sim- 
ple, but, like those of summer, pure, healtliful, and invig- 
orating. On fine winter days the icy bosom of the Hudson 
would be alive with skaters of both sexes, and vocal with 
their merry laugh and joyous songs and ringing shouts ; 
and down the broad and winding road from the verge of 
Pinkster Hill, whereon the State capitol now reposes, scores 
of sleighs might be seen every brilliant moonlight evening, 
coursing with ruddy voyagers — ^boys and girls, young men 
and maidens — who swept past the Dutch Church at the 
foot, and halted only on the banks of the river. It was a 
most Jinimating scene, and many a fair si)ectator would sit 
or stand on the margin of the slope until ten or eleven 
o'clock, \\Tapped in furs, to enjoy the spectacle. 

Evening parties, the company seldom numbering over a 
dozen, wore quite frequent. These were often the sequels 
of quilting parties ; and prinddums, games, simple dances 
and other amusements were indulged in, Init never contin- 
ued very late. They(»ungmen sometimes spent an evening 
in conviviality at one of tlie two taverns in the town, and 



1735.] SLAVERY IN ALBANY. 41 

sometimes their boisterous mirth -would disturb the quiet 
city at a late hour. Habitual drunkenness, however, was 
extremely rare, and these outbreaks were winked at as com- 
paratively harmless. 

Among these people the slavery of Africans was so sof- 
tened by gentleness and mutual attachments, that it ap- 
peared truly patriarchal, and a real blessing to the negroes. 
It was a most beautiful example of the relations of master 
and servant as they should be — each interested in the com- 
fort and welfare of the other. They stood in the relative 
position of friends, and the freedom of speech and action 
that existed between them was that of intimate compan- 
ions rather than that of a superior and inferior. " I have 
nowhere," says an eye witness of society there at the time 
we are considering, " I have nowhere met with instances 
of friendship more tender and generous than that which 
here subsisted between the slaves and then- masters and 
mistresses. The slave has been known, in the course of 
hunting or of Indian trading, at the imminent risk of his 
life, to carry the disabled master through unfrequented 
wilds with labor and fidelity scarce credible ; and the mas- 
ter has been equally tender, on similar occasions, of the 
humble friend who stuck closer than a brother ; who was 
baptized with the same baptism, nurtured under the same 
roof, and often rocked in the same cradle with himself" 

The influence of the negro women was often very great 
in the families of their masters, especially those who were 
faithful and were truly beloved ; and they sometimes ex- 
erted quite as much authority ov^r the children as the 
parents themselves. They were uniformly faithful and 
true ; and in their case slaveiy, aside from the abstract 
principle involved, was a happy lot. 

The religion of the Albanians was a clear perception 



42 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [1735. 

and recognition of the duties and privileges of responsible 
and dependant creatures, and the overruling providence of 
a just and loving Father Supremo ; and none appeared to 
doubt the gi-eat truths of revelation and the doctrines of 
Jesus of Nazareth. Their piety, based upon this religion, 
was more emotional than demonstrative, for they seldom 
evinced fervor or enthusiasm in their devotions. Their re- 
ligious observances were performed regularly and quietly, 
and bigotry and asceticism found no dwelling-place among 
them. While they were firm in their own belief they were 
extremely tolerant, even to the extent of practical indiffer- 
ence. Their piety was a jirevailing sentiment, manifested 
in their entire every-day life by an exemplaiy walk and 
conversation ; and mothers wore the principal religious 
teachers of the children. 

Industry and fnigality ranked among the cardinal do- 
mestic virtues of this exemplary community. The females 
were peculiarly active in household duties, and spent much 
time in the open air, in both town and country. Every 
family had a garden, and after it was broken up by the 
I)lough or spade in the spring, this became the exclusive 
domain of woman, in which no man's hand was seen as a 
cultivator. In these every kind of vegetable for the table, 
and flower to please the eye, known in the colony, was 
cultivated with skill and care by her delicate hands ; and 
it was a common thing to see, before sunrise on a Avarm 
spring morning, the mistress of a family, in simple dress, 
witli an umbrageous caleche on her head, carrying in one 
hand a little Indian basket with seeds, and in tlie other a 
rake or hoe, to perform her garden work. Half the day or 
more these fair gardeners, perhaps beautiful in form, gentle 
in manner, and refined in thought and conversation, would 
ply the implements of husbandry, winning healthful vigor 



1735.] HAPPYHOMES. 43 

for mind and muscle from the needful exercise, the fresh 
earth, the breath of plants and flowers, and the pure air. 
Most of the gardens were plain and arranged in beds, part 
of them devoted to edible plants and part to flowers. The 
Schuylers, and one or two other families in the city and 
vicinity, and Van Eensselaer, the Patroon, on the northern 
border, had very large gardens, laid out in fanciful Eu- 
ropean style ; and among the beautiful flowers and fra- 
grant shrubs the females of these families might be daily 
seen, not as idle loiterers, but as wilKng and industrious 
workers. 

In their houses the women were extremely neat. " They 
rise early," says Kalm, " go to sleep late, and are almost 
over nice and cleanly in regard to the floor, which is fre- 
quently scoured several times in the week." Tea had been 
but recently introduced among them, but was extensively 
used; coffee, seldom. They never put sugar and milk in their 
tea, but took a small piece of the former in their mouths 
while sipping the beverage. They usually breakfasted at 
seven, dined at twelve or one, and supped at six ; and most 
of them used sweet milk or buttermilk at every meal. 
They also used cheese at breakfast and dinner, grated in- 
stead of sliced ; and the usual drink of the majority of the 
people was small beer and pure water. The wealthier fam- 
ilies, although not indulging in the variety then seen upon 
tables in New York, used much fish, flesh, and fowl, pre- 
serves and pastry, nuts and fruits, and various wines at 
their meals, especially when entertaining their friends or 
strangers. Their hospitality toward deserving strangers 
was free and generous, without formality and rules of eti- 
quette ; and they never allowed their visitors to interfere 
with the necessary duties of the household, the counting- 
room, or the farm. 



44 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [1735. 

Trading,', trafficking, and hunting formed the chief bus- 
iness at Albany. The young men generally accompanied 
their elders on long trading and hunting excursions in the 
interior until tlioy arrived at a marriageable age, or were 
resolved on matrimony. Then the hoy, as all were called 
until after maniage, began to consider the new responsi- 
bilities lie was about to assume, and receiving from his 
father an outfit consisting of forty or fifty dollars, a negro 
boy, and a canoe, he would start for the wilderness north, 
and west, arrayed almost Hke the sons of the forest. His 
stock in trade generally consisted of coarse fabrics, blankets, 
guns, powder, lead, rum, and trinkets suitable for the taste 
and wants of the Indians. Then- food j^rovided for the ex- 
cur.'^ion was only a little dried beef and maize, for they de- 
pended for more ample supplies for daily consumption upon 
the fowling-piece and the fishing-hook. They slept in the 
open air in the depths of the forests, where bears, wolves, 
and panthers were numerous, or in poisonous fens, where 
the malaria and the serpent threatened them with death, 
and insects annoyed. Prone to observation, they became 
expert in knowledge of trees, shrubs, plants and soils, and 
many a young hunter and trader gained, during those ex- 
cursions, that practical knowledge of the topography and 
soil of the virgin countiy which enabled him to select desir- 
able tracts of land for purchase, and to become a wealthy 
proprietor of broad domains in after years. 

Generally successful, the trader returned with plentiful 
winnings, which ])lea8ed the parents of the maid he loved, 
and became tlu; fotindation of his fortune. His aspect and 
charact<>r would hv much modified. " It is utterly incon- 
ceivable," wiys Mrs. Grant, ''how even a single season 
Bj)*-nt in this manner ripened the mind and changed the 
whole appearance, nay, the very character of the counte- 



1735.] BUSINESS ADVENTURES. 45 

nances of these demi-savages, for such they seem on re- 
turning from among their friends in the forests. Lofty, 
sedate and collected, they seem masters of themselves and 
independent of others ; though sunburnt and austere, one 
scarcely knows them till they unbend. By this Indian 
likeness I do not think them by any means degraded. One 
must have seen those people (the Indians) to have any idea 
what a noble animal man is while unsophisticated. 

" The joy that the return of these youths occasioned 
was proportioned to the anxiety their perilous journey had 
produced. In some instances the union of the lovers im- 
mediately took place, before the next career of gainful 
hardships commenced. But the more cautious went to 
New York in winter, disposed of their peltry, purchased a 
larger cargo of Indian goods, and another slave and canoe. 
The next year they laid out the profits of their former ad- 
ventures in flour and provisions, the staple of the province; 
this they disposed of at the Bermuda Islands, where they 
generally purchased one of those light-sailing cedar schoon- 
ers, for building of which those islanders are famous, and 
proceeding to the Leeward Islands, loaded it with a cargo 
of rum, sugar and molasses. They were now ripened into 
men, and considered as active and useful members of so- 
ciety. 

"The young adventurer had generally finished this 
process by the time he was one or (at most) two and 
twenty. He now married, or if manied before, which was 
pretty often the case, brought home his wife to a house of 
his own. Either he kept his schooner, and, loading her with 
produce, sailed up and down the river all summer, and aU 
winter disposed of the cargoes he obtained in exchange to 
more distant settlers, or he sold her, purchased European 
goods, and kept a store. Otherwise he settled in the coun- 



46 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [1735. 

try, and became as diligent in his agi-icultural pui'suits as 
if he had never known any other."* 

Such is a brief outline of the character and condition 
of the society in which Philip Schuyler was nurtured for 
the active duties of life. Frankness, generosity, patriot- 
ism, rectitude, sobriety, and others of the sterner Christian 
virtues, were lessons imparted by the every-day life of his 
people ; and from these he learned that divine maxim of 
truth, manifested in the lineaments of his own character 
during a long life, that goodness is the soul of greatness. 

* Memoirs of an American Lady. 



CHAPTER III. 

The father of Philip Schuyler died in the autumn of 
1741, and was interred at The Flats, (now Watervliet,) in 
the family burying-place of his cousin, Colonel Philip 
Schuyler, son of the eminent first mayor of Albany. 
Philip was then only eight years of age, and was the eldest 
of five children that were left to the care of their mother. 
Their grandfather. Captain John Schuyler, was seventy- 
three years old, and enfeebled by the severe labors he had 
performed and the hardships he had endured in military 
life on the frontier and as Indian commissioner. The en- 
tire duties of guardian and guide for the orjDhans were 
therefore laid upon the mother, Cornelia Van Cortlandt 
Schuyler, a person of superior excellence, and then in the 
prime of early womanhood. 

According to the English laws of primogeniture, Philip 
inherited all of the large real estate of his father, and upon 
him the hopes of the family were naturally suspended. 
His mother, fully equal to the responsibilities imposed 
upon her, and sensible of the importance of the trust com- 
mitted to her keeping, trained him with anxious care and 
sohcitude, and was rewarded at every step by earnest filial 
affection, displays of great goodness of heart, and promises 
of an honorable career, 

Mrs. Schuyler was an indulgent mother, but a firm 
disciplinarian, and she never allowed her authority to be 
questioned by her children. Philip frequently mentioned 



48 PHILIP 6CHUYLER. [^T. 11. 

ail illustrative example that occurred when he was about 
teu years of age. On one occasion, not satisfied with some 
food that was set before him at dinner, he refused to eat it 
and asked for another dish. His mother, regarding his 
dislike as whimsical, ordered a servant to carry the dish 
away, and nothing else was given him. At supper the 
same dish was set before him, and it was again refused. 
He went to bed fasting, and the next morning the same 
dish was given him for breakfast. All this while his mother 
had not uttered a word of reproof, nor exhibited the least 
iiiikindness of manner. Hunger had subdued his rebellious 
spuit, and conscience made him penitent. He ate the ob- 
noxious food cheerfully, begged his mother to forgive him 
for his obstinacy, and resolved never again to defy her au- 
thority. This kind of maternal discipline had a powerful 
effect, and was reproduced in the character of the son in 
an eminent degree. 

And now a dark and ominous cloud gathered in the 
northern horizon of the colony and filled the inhabitants 
with alarm. The banner of hostility was again raised U2)on 
the St. Lawrence, and the savages of the north were pre- 
paring to go out upon the old war paths which led to the 
frontier settlements of New York. For thirty years after 
the treaty at Utrecht the colonists had enjoyed compara- 
tive repose. The English and French governments had 
been at peace, and their respective colonists in America 
had lived in as much accord as national antipathies and 
dissimilarities would allow. The sword had been kept in 
its scabbard and the hatchet in its grave, and the benign 
influence of traffic was aj^parently smoothing the way for 
a real friendship between the Canadians and the people of 
New York, when the torch of war was suddenly kindled ia 
Europe, and speedily lighted up the forests of America. 



1744.] KING GEORGE'S WAR. 49 

A contest had arisen between Maria Theresa, Empress 
of Hungary, and Louis the Fifteenth, King of France, 
concerning the occupancy of the throne of Austria as the 
seat of the German empire, just become vacant by the 
death of the Queen's father, Charles the Sixth, who, full 
twenty years before, had publicly settled his dominions on 
his daughter. Louis was resolved that Charles Albert, 
Elector of Bavaria, should be elevated to that throne, 
while the English people enthusiastically favored the claims 
of the Hungarian Queen ; and the King of England, as 
Elector of Hanover, espoused her cause. A contest, called 
in Europe the "war of the Austrian succession, ensued, in 
which nearly all the continent became involved. 

France declared war against England in the spring of 
of 1744, and for almost four years the contest raged in both 
hemispheres. In America it was called King George's 
war, and the loyal colonists, sympathizing with their fel- 
low subjects in England, heartily espoused the cause of 
their sovereign. The peace that had so long rested upon 
the hills and valleys of America was suddenly banished, 
and the excitement of hostile sentiments and preparations 
prevailed all over the middle, northern, and eastern colo- 
nies. For a time it was uncertain where the flame would 
be first kindled, and anxiety and continual alarm harassed 
the people. The whole frontier of New York and New 
England was exposed to invasion by the French and their 
savage allies ; and from every point between Niagara and 
Quebec came intelligence of tampering with the Indians in 
the English interest by French emissaries, and of hostile 
preparations. 

Albany, the chief frontier town, was in the programme 
of every scheme of invasion, because it was the key to the 
Hudson river and the provincial capital at its mouth, so 



50 PHILIP SCHUYLER. \JEt. 12. 

much coveted by the Gallic power on the St. Lawrence ; 
and it Avas continually menaced with the terrible blow 
dealt upon Schenectada fifty years before. Every family 
and every individual had an important interest at stake, 
and from the dawn of morning until the falling of the 
evening shadows the war was the great topic which occupied 
the thon;;hts and speech of all, from the mere child, listen- 
ing with wonder, to the mature and aged, who planned and 
prepared to execute. The bud of young Schuyler's hfe was 
then just developing into the blossom of youth, and his 
plastic mind was continually impressed with words and 
deeds that left ineffaceable records of memory there, to be 
consulted in future years. 

At length the great question was decided, and the chief 
theatre of war was prepared in tlie ftir east, where the fortress 
of Louisburg, the great stronghold of French poAver on 
this continent, reposed. It was upon the island of Cape 
Breton, which lies westward of the entrance to the Gulf 
of St. Lawrence, and had been constructed by the French 
at an expense of five and a half millions of dollars. On 
account of its m-eat streuiirth it was called the Gibraltar of 

O CD 

America; and the sagacious William Shirley, then governor 
of Massachusetts, under whom young Schuyler sei'ved in 
after years, perceived its immense importance in the coming 
contest. Plans for its capture Avere speedily formed by the 
Legislature of Massachusetts, and other colonies cheerfully 
lent their cooperation. Rhode Island, New Hampshire, 
and Connecticut furnished their proper quota of troops. 
New York sent artillery, and Pennsylvania provisions. 
Thus common danger was extending the idea of a neces- 
sity for a union of the Anglo-American colonies ten years 
before it assumed a practical form in a colonial convention 
at Albany, 



1745.] CAPTURE OF LOUISBURG. 51 

Preparations for the expedition against Louisburg oc- 
cupied several months, and then, after vainly waiting for 
some time in expectation of aid from Commodore Warren, 
who was in the West Indies, the colonial forces, thirty-two 
hundred strong, under the general command of William 
Pepperell, sailed for Louisburg on the 4th of April, 1745. 
They were joined at Canseau by Warren early in May, and 
on the 11th of that month, the combined forces, four 
thousand strong, landed a short distance from the Louis- 
burg fortress. Their appearance was unexpected to the 
French, and at first great consternation prevailed in the 
town and garrison. A regular siege was commenced on 
the last day of May, and on the 28th of June the French 
surrendered the fortress, the city of Louisburg, and the 
island of Cape Breton into the hands of the English. 

Although this great and important victory was achieved 
almost entirely by the colonial troops, the British govern- 
ment awarded the whole of the prize money, amounting to 
at least a million of dollars, to the officers and crews of the 
royal ships-of-war. The two commanders, Warren and 
Pepperell, w^ere each rewarded with the title of baronet, 
but the British ministry, with a mean spirit of jealousy 
toward the colonies, used every effort to depreciate the 
services of the provincial troops, and to deprive them of 
their share of the glory of the conquest also. This injus- 
tice was never forgotten, yet the loyalty of the colonists 
was too ardent and sincere to be seriously diminished by it. 

Who can tell how much the recollection of this injus- 
tice, quickened by subsequent oppression, served to make 
Eichard Gridley, the engineer, and David Wooster, the 
brave young Connecticut captain, earnest patriots and un- 
compromising opponents of the crown in the war for inde- 
pendence which broke out thirty years afterward. 



52 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [^T. 13. 

Flushed with this great victory in the east, Shirley 
contemplated the complete conquest of the French colonial 
dominions. He urged the ministry to send over a sufficient 
land and naval force for that purpose, and to defend the 
prizes already won, for it could not he douhted that the 
mortified and exasperated French would put forth all their 
energies in efforts to regain what they had lost. Shirley's 
general i)lan was to send a British fleet and army, with 
New England troops, up the St. Lawrence, to attack Que- 
bec, while colonial forces from New York, and. provinces 
Boulhward of it. should rendezvous at Albany, and jDroceed 
against the French fort at Crown Point, on Lake Cham- 
plain, and the city of Montreal on the St. Lawrence. The 
ministry appeared to listen favorably, and promised the de- 
sired aid. The Massachusetts Assembly agreed to the mea- 
sure, and a large body of New England troops w^ere speedily 
collected at Boston, and waited long for the regulars from 
FinL,'land. For reasons not satisfoctorily explained, the 
whol(> summer of 1746 passed away before any troops from 
abroad arrived, and the fleet of Warren did not come at 
all. 

Shirley was disappointed but not disheartened, and he 
proposed to detach a portion of the New England troops 
to j(jin the other pro^^ncials at Albany in an attack upon 
Crown Point. George Clinton, the governor of New York, 
warmly seconded the proposition. Through the influence 
of the Schuyler fiunily and others, he had succeeded, as we 
shall observe presently, in not only securing the fricnd.ship 
of the Six Nations, but in engaging them to render active 
a-ssistancc in the contest; and the enterprise appeared to 
promise abundant success. But before the plan could be 
carried into eiTect intelligence came from the east that 
Loui.sburg was in danger, French troops and Indian war- 



1746.] THE COLONIES SAVED. 53 

parties being on their marcli toward it. The New Eug- 
landers were accordingly directed to hasten toward Cape 
Breton, but when they were on the point of embarking 
from Boston, tidings came that a large French fleet and 
army were upon the coast of Nova Scotia. It was an ar- 
mament consisting of forty vessels, under the Duke D'An- 
ville, conveying more than three thousand disciplined troops 
and a formidable train of artillery, for the recovery of the 
fortress and the desolation of the English settlements. 
The provincials were dismayed. To proceed would have 
been madness, and for a moment the deepest gloom settled 
upon the colonists, for it appeared as if they were doomed 
to destruction. But the strong arm of Grod's providence, 
which had so often and so long preserved them in the 
midst of many perils, was not now withdrawn. Storms 
wrecked many of the French vessels, and disease soon 
w^asted hundreds of the Gallic troops ; and D'Anville, 
thoroughly dispirited, abandoned the enterprise without 
striking a blow. 

The pious New Englanders regarded this as a special 
deliverance, and hymns of joy and thanl?:sgiving went up 
from ten thousand homes, unmixed, however, with any ex- 
pressions of gratitude or respect for the parent State, whose 
neglect, but for this deliverance, would have insured their 
ruin. 

Meanwhile the settlers on the extreme northern fron- 
tiers had been terribly smitten by bands of French and 
Indian marauders, and an expedition quite formidable in 
numbers had swept down the valley of the Hudson as far 
as Saratoga, within about thirty miles of Albany, leaving 
there a horrible record, and spreading the wildest alarm 
among the settlements below. This expedition, consisting of 
upwards of five hundred Frenchmen and Huron Indians, ac- 



54 PHILIP. SCHUYLER. [JEt. 13. 

companied by some disaffected warriors of the Six Nations/ 
left Montreal oq the afternoon of the 4th of November, 
1745, under the command of M. Marin, an active French 
t.nkvr, and iiroceeding up the Sorel from Chamblee, crossed 
Laki' Champlaiu to Fort St. Frederic at Crown Point, which 
was then commanded by M. Vaudreuil. They arrived there 
on the 20th, and Marin prepared to cross the country to 
attack some English settlements on the Connecticut river, 
which was the original object of the expedition, when the 
Indians expressed a reluctance to go eastward on account 
of the lateness of the season, and their lack of preparation for 
the rigors of winter weather. Marin was disappointed, for 
he was unwilling to return empty of military achievements. 
()n the suggestion of Father Piquet, the French Prefect 
Apostollque to Canada, who met the expedition at Crown 
Point, and the representations of the Iroquois who w^ere 
with ilarin, that officer determined to lead his party south- 
ward, toward Orange, as Albany was yet called by the 
French, and cut off the advancing English settlements. 
Tiiey passed up Lake Champlain and Wood Creek, crossed 
the cinmtiy to the Hudson river, destroyed Lydius' lumber 
estiiblishment on the site of Fort Edward, and approached 
the thriving settlement of Saratoga, seated on the flats at 
J the junction of the Fish Creek and Hudson river. 

The scattered village of Saratoga consisted of about 
thirty families, many of them tenants of Philip Schuyler, 
who owned mills and a large landed estate there ; and near 
it, upon a lull across the river, was a small fort in a dilapi- 
dated condition, and without a garrison. Marin, with his 
in()tU-y h.mle of white and dusky savages, accompanied by 
!' ^T Piqu.'l, having laid waste nearly fifty miles of 
^- I il.i.i.nt, approached the village stealthily on the night 
of the 28th of November, when the inhabitants were asleep. 



1745.] DESTRlJCTION OF SARATOGA. 55 

They burnt the fort and most of the houses, plundered 
everything of value, murdered Mr. Schuyler and a few 
others, and took captive one hundred and nine men, wo- 
men and children, including negroes. 

Beauvais, one of the officers who accompanied Marin, 
knew and respected Mr. Schuyler. He went to his house 
and requested him to surrender, assuring him at the same 
time that he should suffer no personal injury. Schuyler 
was a brave and high spirited man, and refused to surren- 
der. He called Beauvais a dog, and fired a fusee at him. 
Beauvais again begged him to surrender, when Schuyler 
, fired a second time. The incensed Beauvais instantly re- 
turned the fire with fatal efiect. The house, which was 
of brick and pierced for muskets to the roof, was entered, 
pillaged and burnt, together with the body of Mr. Schuyler, 
and, it was believed, some persons who were concealed in 
the cellar. 

On the following morning the marauders chanted the 
Te Deum in the midst of the desolation they had made, 
and then turned their steps toward Canada. A part of the 
prisoners were distributed among the savages, and the re- 
mainder were carried to Montreal, where the whole party 
anived on the 9th of December."-"" 

* Among the Schuyler papers is a manuscript of twenty-two foolscap 
pages, in the French language, containing a complete narrative of this expe- 
dition, entitled "Journal de la Campagne de Sarastoguo, 1145." It is in 
the peculiar handwriting of the time, and was evidently written immediately 
after the occurrence by a participant in the expedition. The following is the 
entry concerning the death of Schuyler, the substance of which is given in 
the text. It will be seen that Schuyler is spelt Skulle : 

"Sortant du moulin, nous alldmes a la maison du nomme Philippe Skulle, 
brave homme qui nous aurait fort cmbarasse s'il eut eu vue douzaine d'hommes 
aussi vaillans que luy. Beauvais qui le connoissait et qui I'aimoit, s'etoit ren- 
du a sa' maison le premier et en lui disant sou nom I'invita fort a se rendre 
qu'il n'aurait point de mal. L'autre luy repondit qu'il etoit un chieu et qu'ille 
voulait tuer en effet luy tira un coup de fusil. Beauvais luy reitera sa priere de 



56 PHILIP SCHUYLER. L^T. 13. 

The inurdertxl Schuyler was young Philip's uncle, from 
whom li.^ inlierited the fine estate at Saratoga, which he 
owni-d when it was desolated by order of Burgoyne more 
than thirty years afterward. The circumstances of his 
death caused the fiercest indignation as well as alaiTU 
throughout the province, and his brother, Colonel Peter 
Schuvler, who had been Indian commissioner for many 
years, importuned Governor Clinton for a detachment of 
three hundred of the militia of the lower counties to de- 
fend the frontier, and also to have the fort at Saratoga 
rebuilt and garrisoned.* The Commissioners of Indian 
affairs also urged the governor to take other measures for 
the security of the frontiers in connection with the friendly 
Six Nations ; and a letter from Doctor Cadwallader Colden, 
who resided in the ^^cinity of Newburgh, was received by 
Clinton at about the same time, giving alarming suggestions 
concerning an expected attack by the Indians on the western 
borders of Ulster County. Coincident with these move- 
ments, the Massachusetts people sent an earnest request for 

«3 rendrc k quoi PhQlipe repondit par des coups de fiisils, enfin Bcauvais ha 
d'C-tro eiposj d son feu, lui lira son coup et le tua ; nous entrames aussitot, 
et tous lut piUe dans I'mstant — cctte maison etoit de briques percee de cren- 
cnnx ju.«qucs a rcz dc chaussee, les sauvages nous I'avoit annoncee comme un 
c-j ■e de corps dc garde on il y avoit des soldats — ou yfit quelques domestiques 
prLjijiiDiers, on dil qu'il y a cu du monde de brule qui s'etoit retire dans la 
cava 

* y. rt -; .-..t^n^ stood upon a hill on the east side of the Hudson, opposite 
the ]. lerville. It was rebuilt in the spring of 1746, in quadran- 
gular ; .-irongly palisaded, and named Fort Clinton. At each cor- 
ner of the fort were the houses of the officers, and timber barracks for the 
» 1^;...... „...r. „;,!,;.. ,;.,. palisades. A French account of it says it was twenty- 

: and fifty feet) in height, meaning, no doubt, its height 

»"'■ 1 1, river. The English, unable to defend tliis fort against 

the :>• Frenoh and Indian's, burned it at about the 1st of December, 

174"!. .» . .■ .. .. officer (TiUiers), wlio visited it throe weeks after its destruc- 
tion, saw twenty chimneya then standing. He reported that the English had 
ninety bnttcaux there which they took awav with them. 



1746.] CLINTON AND DELANCEY. 57 

New York to join with the New England colonies in a con- 
federation for mutual welfare. These things were pressed 
ujDon the governor, and by him upon the representatives of 
the people, at a moment auspicious for their receiving at- 
tention. The public service had been neglected in conse- 
quence of the almost incessant quarrels between the chief 
magistrate and the assembly, causing supplies asked for to 
be refused, and the best interests of the commonwealth, in 
a time of great danger, to be made shuttlecocks for the 
amusement or profit of partisan players. 

Governor Clinton was a son of the Earl of Lincoln, had 
spent most of his life in the navy, loved ease and good cheer, 
and evidently came to America to mend his fortune — im- 
paired by extravagance — ^by genteel frugality in a society 
more simple than he found at home. He was a good- 
humored, kind-hearted man, and the ten years of his ad- 
ministration might have passed happily, had not unwise 
advisers influenced him at the beginning, and rancorous 
party spirit cursed the province. The old politicians who 
survived the administrations of Cobby and Clarke were as 
violent in their mutual animosities as ever, and the gov- 
ernor, after trying for awhile to propitiate the favor of both 
with no success, made the wealthy, able, and influential 
James De Lancey, then chief justice of the province, his 
confidant and guide. They finally quarreled over their 
cups and became personal and political foes, and from that 
hour Clinton found no peace in his public life. De Lancey 
was implacable. He was a politician of most exquisite 
mould, and bore almost absolute sway over the colonial as- 
sembly and the people. At the table where their friendship 
was broken he had taken an oath of revenge, and he pur- 
sued Clinton with the tenacity of a hound. He aimed to 
thwart every effort of the governor toward placing the 



^ PHILIP SCHUYLER. [^T. 13. 

province in a state of proper defense, for the evident pur- 
l)0se of making him, by his seeming inefficiency, unpopular 
with the peoi)le, while the governor, having the advantage 
of power, dealt sevci-e blows of retaliation in return. 

By these personal disputes and public agitations which 
disturbed the waters of society in New York, a hitherto 
obscure man was cast up to the surftice, and for thirty 
years he held a conspicuous place in the history of the 
province, especially in that portion that pertained to the 
Indian tribes within its borders. That man was William 
Johnson, a nephew of Admiral Sir Peter Warren, and 
then in the prime of young manhood. His uncle, by mar- 
riage with Miss Watts of New York, became possessed of 
many broad acres upon the Mohawk river, and Johnson 
came from Ireland to take charge of the princely domain. 
For several years his ambition lay dormant, and he was 
content to reside in obscurity near Fort Hunter, surrounded 
by the Mohawk savages. 

The quarrels between Clinton and De Lancey wrought 
a change in Johnson's aspirations and fortunes as sudden 
as it was great. Colonel Schuyler, who had long and 
faithfully exercised the duties of Indian commissioner, and 
was greatly beloved by the Six Nations, unfortunately for 
the public good attached himself to the interests of De 
Lancey. The governor w^as offended, and as Johnson, who 
had become a favorite with the Indians, had jjiven Clinton 
fnll proofs of his friendship, upon him the office held by 
Ci>loncl Schuyler was conferred, strictly on party grounds. 
That office became to Johnson the door of entrance to 
honors, fame and fortune ; and thus the man with whom 
Pliilip SL-iiuykT the younger hsul so much to do in after 
years, in connection with the Iroquois confederacy, was 
first presented to public view. 



1746.] PREPARATIONS FOR WAR. 59 

The foray against Saratoga, and the imminent danger 
that every where overhung the province, hushed the voice 
of party spirit for a while ; and when, early in 1746, the 
governor, by his message, demanded from the Legislature 
provision for constructing six new block houses on the 
northern frontier ; the punctual payment of their militia 
garrisons, and the appointment of twenty-five men to be 
posted in two others at Schenectada ; notified them that 
the Six Nations had refused to act in the war ; urged an 
alliance with the New England colonies to lessen the ex- 
pense of repurchasing the aid of the Iroquois confederacy ; 
insisted upon more money to strengthen the hands of the 
Indian commissioners ; demanded a further aid of provi- 
sions for a garrison at Oswego, and a quota of men to gar- 
rison Louisburg till others should arrive from England ; 
and declared that " the enemy could not be more industrious 
for the ruin of the colony than he could be careful to pre- 
serve it in the quiet possession of his Majesty's subjects," 
scarcely a murmur of opposition was heard. The assembly 
proceeded to vote for the services recommended, and an in- 
crease in the amount of paper money to be issued. 

Soon after this a scene occurred at Albany that must 
have made a deep and lasting impression upon young 
Schuyler. He was then nearly thirteen years of age, quite 
precocious, and vigilant and acute in his observations of 
passing events. Intelligence had come from England that 
the British ministry had determined to send an expedition 
against Canada, and desired aid from the colonies in men 
and supplies. This was the project of Grovernor Shirley 
already mentioned. It gave the people joy. The assembly 
voted a most loyal address to the governor. Bounties were 
raised for volunteers, and for the purchase of anmiunitiou 
and provisions ; exportation of provisions was forbidden ; 



60 r II I L I 1' SCHUYLER. [JEt. IH. 

the Six Nations were invited to meet the governor at Al- 
Imny in cunncil, and the other colonies were requested to 
join in collecting presents to conciliate them ; artificers 
were impressed for the public works, and other measures 
for vigoruns cooperation were planned. 

A few (lays after the assembly adjourned, in July, the 
governor departed for Albany, with Dr. Golden and Philip 
Livingston, of his Majesty's council, and Captain Euther- 
ford, who commanded in the north. They arrived at Al- 
bany on the 21st of July, and after being cordially received 
by the corporation, the regular troops in the city, and the 
militia, the governor took up his abode in the fort, on ac- 
count of the prevalence of the small pox in the town. 

Commissioner Johnson, meanwhile, had made gi'eat 
exertions to arouse the Mohawks to war against the French. 
He flattered their pride by dressing like them, and gained 
their further good will by feasting them. He was very 
successful, and on the 8th of August he appeared on the 
hills that overlooked old Albany, dressed and jiainted like 
the savages, at the head of a large number of them. Pre- 
parations having been made for their formal reception, they 
wert! led down to the fort, where the chiefs were treated 
with wine. It was a large and imposing gathering of the 
noblest sons of the forest, who came with their best ap- 
pointments to hold friendly communion with " Corlear," 
as tlie governors of New York were styled. And there 
were many other braves there besides those of the Mohawk 
valley. Chiefs and wan-iors came from the Delawares, the 
Sus(]uehannahs, the River Indians, and the Mohegans of 
the Connecticut valley. All the people of the town flocked 
to see tlie si)cctacle, and many came for the purpose from 
the neighboring settlements. 

The cuuncil was satisfactory to all parties. The Indians 



1748.] TREATY OF AIX-LA-CHAPELLE. 61 

generally promised to lift the hatchet against the French, 
and were dismissed with presents, and Johnson was fur- 
nished with arms and directed to send out war parties from 
Schenectada and his own settlement near the lower Mohawk 
Castle, to annoy the French and their savage allies, who 
brooded in the forests northward of the English homes on 
the borders of the wilderness. 

From this time no actual hostilities of importance oc- 
curred within the province of New York or on its frontier 
for several years ; but the annals of New Hampshire for 
two years thereafter present a long and mournful catalogue 
of plantations laid waste and colonists slain or carried into 
captivity by the French and Indians. Pillage appeared to 
be the, chief object of the invaders ; " and their prowess," 
says an elegant English writer, " was directed less against 
States and armies than against dwelling-houses, families, 
rural industry and domestic life."* 

In April, 1748, a treaty of peace was concluded at Aix- 
la-Chapelle, in western Germany, when it was mutually 
agreed that all prisoners should be released, and all acqui- 
sitions of property or territory made by either party should 
be restored. Louisburg, therefore, passed back into the 
hands of the French, and France and England were both 
immense losers by the conflict. But the American colo- 
nists, heavy as were their pecuniary and industrial sacri- 
fices during the war, were great gainers, for their latent 
strength was developed, and the incalculable advantages 
of union were discovered and appreciated. They were tu- 
tored for gi-eat achievements in the future — achievements 
in which Philip Schuyler bore a conspicuous part. 

* Grahame's Colonial History of the United States, i. 183. 



CHAPTER IV. 

Philip Schuyler was little more than fourteen years 
of age when the war was closed by treaty, and its attendant 
alarms had mostly ceased. He had studied the ordinary 
branches of a plain education under the instructions of his 
mother, for the schools of Albany were very indifferent. 
He also hud the advantage of listening to the conversation, 
and perhaps actually receiving instruction from educated 
French protestants, who, as well as their fathers, had ever 
b«x'n welcome visitors in the mansion of Colonel Schuyler 
at The Flats. There was also a holier tie than that of 
mere friendship that linked the Schuylers in sympathy 
witli those people, a brother of the colonel having mar- 
ried a polished and well-educated daughter of one of the 
Huguenot refugees, who held the first rank in society in 
the provincial capital. 

Under the colonel's hosi)itable roof young Philip spent 
much time during his childhood and youth with the good 
" Aunt Schuyler," the charming matron whose character- 
istics of miiul and heart have been so beautifully portrayed 
by Mrs. Grant of Laggan, for he appears to have been a 
special favorite with her and her luisband, whom the Mo- 
liawks loved so wi-U. It appears evident, from a sentence 
contain.-d in a letter of his, in after life, that he received 
some instructions in the science of mathematics from one of 
those Huguenots, who may have been employed as a pri- 
vate tutor in some wealthy families at Albanv. From his 



1747.] EDUCATION NEGLECTED. 63 

earliest years Philip had exhibited a great fondness for nu- 
merals ; and long before he left home for a wider range in 
intellectual culture, he was complete master of all arith- 
metical rules laid down in the books then in use or ex- 
pounded by the tutors in schools. 

The subject of education, considered so important by 
the early Dutch settlers, had, after the conquest of New 
Netherland by the English, received less and less attention 
until the period in question, when nearly all schools were 
neglected, and there was no institution in the province 
where an academic education might be acquired. Chief 
Justice Smith, a resident and cotemporary historian, when 
alluding to the action of the Legislatui'e of New York in 
1746, in authorizing the raising of twenty-two hundred 
and fifty pounds, by lottery, for founding a college, says : 
" To the disgrace of our first j^lanters, who beyond com- 
parison surpassed their eastern neighbors in opulence, Mr. 
De Lancey, a graduate of the University of Cambridge,. 
(England,) and Mr. Smith, were for many years the only 
academics in this province, except such as were in holy or- 
ders ; and so late as the period we are now examining, 
(1750,) the author did not recollect above thirteen more, 
the youngest of whom had his bachelor's degree at the age 
of seventeen, but two months before the passing of the 
above law, the first toward erecting a college in this colony, 
though at a distance of above one hundred and twenty 
years after its discoveiy and the settlement of the capital 
by Dutch progenitors from Amsterdam."* " The persons 
alluded to," says Judge Smith, in a note, " were Peter Van 
Brugh Livingston, John Livingston, Philip Livingston, 
William Livingston, William Nicoll, Benjamin Nicoll, 
Hendrick Hansen, William Peartree Smith, Caleb Smith, 

* History of the Province of New York : by "William Smith. 



64 P H I L I P S C H U Y L E R . [^T. 14. 

Benjamin Woolsey, William Smith, jr., John M'Evers, and 
John Van Hornc. These being then in the morning of life, 
there was no academic but Mr. De Lancey on the bench or 
in either of the three branches of the Legislature, and Mr. 
Smith was the only one at the bar." All of these were 
afterward the cotemporaries of Pliilip Schuyler in public 
life — some with him and some against him in the arena of 
political strife. 

At that time commerce engrossed the attention of the 
principal families in the province, for it was the surest road 
to wealth and social distinction ; and the sons who w^re 
generally destined for its avocations, were usually sent from 
the writing-scliool to the counting-room, and, in due time, 
on a voyage to the West India Islands. This practice was 
introduced by the French refugees, who had settled in the 
province near the close of the preceding century, they hav- 
ing brought with them money, arts, manners, education, 
and all the essential elements of thrift and progress, and 
had become the chief merchants of New York, 

Although young Scliuyler w^as not specially designed 
for mercantile life — for large landed estates awaited his care 
when he should arrive at his majority — ^liis education ap- 
pears to have been directed toward that end. At the age of 
al)out fifteen years, he was placed in a school at New Ro- 
chelle, in Westchester Coumty, then in charge of the Rev- 
erend ]\Ir. Stouppe, a native of Switzerland and pastor of 
the French Protestant church at that place. The settle- 
ment was composed almost entirely of the ftimilies of those 
Huguenots who fled from France to avoid i:)ersecution be- 
tween the years ICSO and 1700, the minions of the Pope 
having ])crsuadod the profligate Louis the Fourteenth to 
break the great green seal that held the solemn edict of 
Honry the Fourth, made ninety years before, which pro- 



1737.] THE HUGUENOTS. 65 

claimed toleration to all the Huguenots of his kingdom. 
In the great Protestant exodus that ensued, the strongest 
foundations of the French State were sapped. Eight 
hundred thousand of her best citizens — skillful agricul- 
turists and artisans, and virtuous families — fled from her 
borders, and carried the secret arts of France into other 
countries. Fifty thousand cunning workmen took refuge 
in England, and gave that realm the benefit of their skill, 
while large numbers crossed the Atlantic, and sought quiet 
homes in a strange land, where the rights of conscience were 
held sacred. Those who settled in the. province of New 
York were nearly all from La Kochelle. They soon sepa- 
rated, the artisans remaining in the city, and the tillers of 
the soil seating themselves in the country, some on the 
Hudson above the Highlands, and a large number upon 
a beautiful spot purchased for -them by Jacob Leisler on 
the banks of Long Island Sound. That spot they sol- 
emnly dedicated as their future home, and named it New 
Eochelle, in remembrance of the loved city in their birth- 
land from which they had fled. They soon built a church 
edifice and established a school, and there (the only place 
within the English colonies,) the French language was 
taught. 

Young Schuyler entered upon his studies at New Ro- 
chelle with a great deal of zeal. Very soon the hand of 
disease was laid heavily upon him, and for a whole year he 
was confined to his room with hereditary gout. It was the 
first appearance of a malady that tormented him all his 
life, notwithstanding he was always active and temperate 
in eating and drinking. The fortitude of the youthful 
martyr was sufficient to sustain liim, and during the whole 
period of his sufferings he hardly relaxed his studies for an 
hour. Mathematics and the exact sciences were his favorites. 



66 P n I L I P S C H U Y L E R . [JEt. 18. 

These he pursued with a devotional spirit, and he acquired 
a thorough knowledge of the French language, then seldom 
learned except by the sons of merchants engaged in trade 
with the West Indies. 

How long Philip remained at New Rochelle can not be 
determined, for there is no record to answer. Probably 
not more than two years, for as early as the summer of 
1751, when he was in his eighteenth year, he was deep in 
the wilderness on the borders of the Upper Mohawk, 
doubtless on one of those wild trading and hunting excur- 
sions in which all young Albanians engaged. He was then 
a tall youth, with a florid complexion, a benevolent cast of 
features, a fine, manly deportment, and distinguished for 
gi'cat kindness of manner. The red men of the forest ad- 
mired and loved him, and whenever he visited them, in 
company with Colonel Johnson, or with Albany merchants 
in their summer tours to Oswego, they always gave him 
some testimonial of their regard. On one of these occa- 
sions, when Philip was about twenty years of age, some of 
tlie Oneida chiefs met him at the canying place between 
Wook creek and the Oneida lake, while he was on his way 
to Oswego, and sought and obtained his assistance in nul- 
lifying a sale of much of their lands westward of Utica, 
which had been made to scheming white speculators by the 
dissolute young men of the nation. The latter had been 
bribed by a little money and a great deal of rum to make 
the transaction. Schuyler was successful, and the domain 
was saved to the nation. The chiefs, to testify their gi-ati- 
tudr, exchanged names with him, a custom then common 
among them, by whicli they considered both parties hon- 
ored. Several of them assumed his surname, and the last 
of the General's children, who survived him more than 



1751.] SOCIETY IN NEW YORK. 67 

half a century, ••' remembered that ahiiost sixty years after- 
Avard, full-blooded Oneidas, named Schuyler, came to 
Utica to sell then- beautifully embroidered moccasins, and 
})artook of the holy communion at the same table with 
herself in the Episcopal church. From the time of these 
friendly services to the Indians until his death, no man ex- 
cept Colonel Johnson ever exercised a greater influence 
over the more easterly tribes of the Iroquois confederacy 
than Philip Schuyler. 

After his eighteenth year Philip usually visited New 
York each autumn, and spent several weeks with friends 
and relatives in the metropolis. Society there was quite 
diiferent in many of its aspects from that in Albany. 
There was far less of the staid Dutch element in its char- 
acter, and it displayed in prominent lines the cosmopolitan 
features of commercial marts. Being the seat of the col- 
onial government, the tone of the best society was marked 
by courtly gaiety of manner and the appearance of consid- 
erable luxury. New York was one of the most social 
l^laces on the continent. The inhabitants consisted prin- 
cipally of merchants, shopkeepers, and tradesmen; and there 
was not so great an inequality of wealth and position as in 
many other places. They were sober, honest, industrious 
and hospitable, though intent upon gain ; and were gener- 
ally frugal and temj^erate, except the richer sort, whose 
tables were furnished with the greatest variety of meat, 
vegetables and liquors. 

Their amusements were simple and rational. The men 
were not given to extravagant gaming nor the cruel prac- 
tice of horse racing. They usually collected in weekly 
evening clubs for conversation, smoking, and the indul- 

* Mrs. Catharine Van Rensselaer Cochrane, his youngest child, who died 
at Oswego, New York, on the 26th of August, 1857, aged 76 years. 



68 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [^T. 20. 

gence of games of chance for amusement ; and the women 
of all ages were amused in summer by aquatic excursions 
on the neighboring waters, and in winter by concerts of 
music and assemblies for dancing, which were held in a 
large room in the Exchange at the foot of Broad street. 
On such occasions they assembled and retired early ; and 
there might always be seen many handsome women, " scarce 
any of them distorted shapes," and all well dressed. 

At about this time theatrical performances were intro- 
duced into New York for the first time. As usual, they 
were exceedingly attractive, especially to young people, and 
the little theatre fitted up in Nassau street, south side, 
between the j^resent Fulton and John streets, with room 
enough for only about three hundred persons, was usually 
crowded on the nights of performance, which occurred tri- 
weekly. The theatre was opened at about the middle of 
September, 1753, imder the management of Lewis Hal- 
lam, who had been with his company performing at Wil- 
liamsburg, in Virginia, and at Annaj)olis and other places 
in Maryland. Young Schuyler, who was always a welcome 
\'isitor in the choicest circles of New York, not only on ac- 
count of his own excellence of character and easy and 
refined manners, but because of his relationship by inter- 
marriages with families in the city who held the highest 
social position next to the governor, appears to have been 
present at one of the earliest, perhaps the very earliest of 
these performances. Writing to a friend in Albany on the 
2l8t of September, he says : 

" The schooner arrived at Ten Eyck's wharf on "Wednesday, at one 
o'clock, and the same evening I went to the play with Phil. You know 
I told you before I left home that if the players should be here I should 
see them, for a player is a new thing under the sun in our good province. 
PhiL's sweetheart went with us. She is a handsome brunette from 



1753.] THE THEATER. 69 

Barbarloes, has an eye like that of a MohavT'k beauty, and appears to 
possess a good understanding. Phil, and I went to see the grand battery 
in the afternoon, and to pay my respects to the governor, whose lady 
spent a week with us last spring, and we bought our play tickets for 
eight shillings apiece, at Parker and AYeyman's printing-office, in Beaver 
street, on our return. We had tea at five o'clock, and before sundown 
we were in the theatre, for the players commenced at six.* The room 
was quite full already. Among the company was your cousin Tom and 
Eatty Livingston, and also Jack Watts, Sir Peter Warren's brother-in- 
law. I would like to tell you all about the play, but I can't noAv, for 
Billy must take this to the wharf for Captain Wynkoop in half an hour. 
He sails this afternoon. 

"A large green curtain hung before the players until they were 
ready to begin, when, on the blast of a whistle, it was raised, and some 
of them appeared and commenced acting. The play was called Tlie Con- 
scious Lovers, written, you know, by Sir Richard Steele, Addison's help 
in writing the Spectator. Hallam, and his wife and sister, all performed, 
and a sprightly young man named Hulett played the violin and danced 
merrily. But I said I could not tell you about the play, so I will for- 
bear, only adding that I was no better pleased than I should have been 
at the club, where, last year, I went with cousin Stephen, and heard 
many wise sayings which I hope profited me something. 

" To-morrow I expect to go into Jersey to visit Colonel Schuyler,t 
who was at our house four or five years ago, when he returned from 
Oswego. He is a kinsman and good soldier, and as I believe we shall 
have war again with the French quite as soon as we could wish, I ex- 
pect he will lead his Jerseymen to the field. I wish you and I, Brom., 

* On the 20th of November, [1753,] the following curious note appeared 
on the play bills: 

" N. B. Gentlemen and ladies that intend to favor us with their company 
are desired to come by six o'clock, being determined to keep to our hour, as 
it would be a great inconvenience to them to be kept out late, and a means 
to prevent disappointment." — Dunlap's History of the American Tlieatre, 
page 14. 

•j- Grandson of the first Schuyler, of Albany, and second son of Arent 
Scliuyler, who settled in New Jersey. "When an incursion into Canada was 
projected in 1746, he was put in command of a New Jersey regiment, and 
was at Oswego for two years, when he returned to private life. He went 
with his regiment to the same fort in 1755. He was made a prisoner on pa- 
role in 1756, but was ordered to Canada in 1758, where he was soon exchanged 
and returned home. He was soon in the north again with his regiment, and 
in September, 1760, he entered Montreal as a victor. He died in 1762, near 
Newark, New Jersey. 



70 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [^T. 20. 

could po with him. But I must say farewell, with love to Peggy, and 
<veet Kitty V. R. if you see her."* 

This, and another short letter, comprise all of the writ- 
ings of General Schuyler, in manuscript or published, that 
I have seem bearing date earlier than that of his commission 
as captain, in 1755. Indeed very little is known of his 
career up to that time, for no biographical sketch of him 
was written during his life, and he left behind no contin- 
uous diary or journal containing any notice of his earlier 
years. 

Schools in New York, at this time, were of a low order. 
"The instructors want instruction," said a cotemporary, 
" and through a long, shameful neglect of all the arts and 
sciences, our common sj)eech is extremely corrupt, and the 
evidences of a bad taste, both as to thought and language, 
are visible in all our j)roceedings, public and private."t 
There was nothing more generally neglected than reading 
among all classes, imitating, in this respect, society in 
England at that time, when education was regarded as 
pedantry, and a student outside of the liberal professions 
was a great rarity. Philip Schuyler, who had acquired 
much useful knowledge and a great variety of information 
from books, as well as observation, was therefore looked 
upon almost as a prodigy in *New York, and men of culture 
delighted to have him visit them. Among these he best 
loved the society of Mr. Barclay, rector of Trinity Church, 
Mr. Johnson, his assistant, and Mr. Smith, the historian. 
With the latter he became very intimate, and they were 
constant con-espondcnts for years before the Revolution, 
and even after Mr. Smith had taken an opposing position 

* Autograph Letter of Philip Scliuyler to Abraham Ten Broock. f Smith. 



1753.] LIBRARIES. 71 

in politics and espoused the cause of the king in the 
quarrel. 

Only two newspapers were published in New York at 
this period, and they were very indifferent ones. They 
contained very little reading except advertisements and a 
meagre record of current events, but were much improved 
a few years later, when Hugh Gaine's 3Iercury became a 
vehicle throui'h which some of the ablest essavists of the 
province were enabled to reach the public ear. 

In libraries the people were very deficient. In the City 
Hall, a strong brick edifice, two stories in height, which 
stood upon the site of the present custom-house, were a 
thousand volumes, which had been bequeathed to the 
Society for the P)\ypa'jation of the Gospel in Foreign 
Ports, by Dr, Millington, Rector of Newington, That 
library was sent to New York in 1730, and, as evidence of 
the scarcity of books in America at that time, it may be 
mentioned that the secretary of the society, in his letter to 
Governor Montgomerie, stated that they were sent "for 
the use of the clergy and gentlemen of New York, and the 
neighboring governments of Connecticut, New Jersey, and 
Pennsylvania, upon giving security to return them." The 
greater part of these were theological works, and at the 
time we are considering many of them were missing. With 
the movement for the establishment of a college in New 
York a desire for a public library appears to have arisen, 
and in 1754 a considerable sum was subscribed for that 
pvupose, and seven hundred volumes of new and well se- 
lected books were purchased. This was the origin of the 
New York Society Library, one of the most flourishing of 
the literary institutions of that city at the present time.* 

* The largest private library known in the province previous to the Rev- 
olution was that of Governor Montgomerie, which contained 1,341 volumes 



72 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [^t. 20. 

Keligion, morals and metaphysics received due atten- 
tion, but in different degi'ees. Theology had always been 
a favorite topic for meditation, and at about the middle of 
the last century it became almost as popular as politics as 
a theme for public discussion in the province, because of 
recent ecclesiastical movements in England that deeply 
concerned the American colonists. Every Protestant sect 
was legally tolerated in the province, while the Episcopa- 
lians, dwelling under the shadow of the established church 
in England, and claiming j)recedence, looked with very 
little fiivor upon the dissenters. The dislike was mutual, 
and no love was wasted. 

Nationality, likewise, had a separating influence, and 
the old hatred that existed between the English and Dutch 
had not disappeared, but was greatly modified. The bulk 
of the inhabitants of New York city consisted of the 
descendants from the original Dutch planters and traders, 
and there were two churches in the city wherein the gospel 
was i^reached in the language of their fathers, by Eitzema 
and De Ronde, who were both strict Calvinists. These 
two churches were associated under one incorporation styled 
the Reformed Protestant Dutch Church of the city of New 
York. 

There were also two Episcopal church edifices in the 
city. Trinity Church, first erected in 1697 and rebuilt in 
1737, contained seats for two thousand hearers, but stran- 
gers and proselytes had so augmented the congregation 

of a standard character. The first law library of which we have any account 
was that of Broughton, the attorney-general in 1704, which contained only 
thirty-six volumes. The library of Judge Smith, the historian, and that of 
his father, the eminent jurist, who died in 1769, contained about a thousand 
volumes of law and miscellaneous books and pamphlets. Of the latter they 
had a large collection, dating back to the civil wars in Charles the First's 
time. 



1753.] RELIGIOUS DENOMINATIONS 73 

that in 1752 St. George's chapel was erected on Beekman 
street, in what was then considered "a new, crowded, and 
ill-built part of the town." In the face of much opposition 
from the Church of England party, a Presbyterian church 
was founded in 1719, under the pastoral charge of Mr. 
Anderson, a Scotch minister, but they did not erect a 
church edifice until 1748. At this time the French church 
had become torn by dissensions, and its membership re- 
duced to a handfuU. There Avere also in the city two Grer- 
man Lutheran churches, and a Quaker and an Anabaptist 
meeting-house, a Jewish synagogue, and a Moravian con- 
gregation. The latter was a new sect in America, just 
planted by Count Zinzendorf and others, and the congrega- 
tion in New York then consisted principally of female 
converts from other religious societies. 

But the Episcopalians took the lead in influence, the 
aristocracy being chiefly members of that church. They 
enjoyed the advantages of special j^rivileges granted by 
their church charter and laws connected with it, the vio- 
lent, weak, and dissolute Governor Fletcher, who became 
the tool of the aristocracy and was hated by the people, 
having procured the passage of an act by the Assembly 
which virtually made the doctrines and rituals of that 
church the established religion of the province. With 
profane and perhaps drunken lips, he piously declared to 
the Assembly that " neither heresy, sedition, schism or re- 
bellion should be preached among them, nor vice and profan- 
ity encouraged." His views were seconded by the successor 
of the Earl of Bellomont, Edward Hyde, (Lord Cornbuiy,) 
the licentious robber of the public treasury, who persecuted 
all denominations of Christians except those of the Church 
of England. From his time until the kindling of the old 
war for independence, in whose blaze the rubbish of des- 



74 PHILir SCHUYLER. [^T. 20. 

potic systems of every kind in the colonies was consumed, 
the sum of five hundred dollars (jf the annual salary of the 
rector of Trinity Church was unrigliteously levied upon all 
the other clergy and laity in the city. 

At about the time in question, a sharp controversy 
commenced between the episcopal and dissenting writers 
of the province, and continued for several years, continually 
increasing in acrimony. The chief cause of the contro- 
versy was the alarm felt in the colonies concerning a scheme 
proposed in 1748 by Dr. Seeker, Archbishop of Canterbury, 
for establishing episcopacy and curtailing the Puritan or 
dissenting influence in the political and religious affairs of 
the American colonies. The throne and the hierarchy were 
in a measure mutually dependent, and Dr. Seeker's propo- 
sition was warmly approved by the British cabinet. 

The colonists, viewing episcopacy in its worst light, as 
exhibited in the early days of the American settlements, 
had been taught to fear such j)ower, if it should happen to 
be wielded by the hand of a crafty politician, more than 
the arm of civil government, and they regarded the arch- 
bishop's scheme as a weapon of contemplated tyranny. 
The eminent ^^^hitcfield had been for years crossing and 
re-crossing the Atlantic on errands of mercy, and arousing 
the colonists to a right sense of their duties and privileges. 
He had tauglit lessons concerning religious freedom with 
power to thousands whose minds had never been agitated 
by reflections and speculations upon such subjects ; and all 
over the land there was a general awakening to truths of 
vast importance, secular and spiritual, hitherto undiscov- 
ered or unrecognized. These truths imparted strength to 
the recipients, and with the recent vindication of the liberty 
of the press in the acquittal of Zenger, they made many 
bold in their enunciation of maxims concerning the freedom 



1753.] ALARM NOTES SOUNDED. 75 

of conscience, and the right of every man to the exercise 
of private judgment in matters relating solely to himself 
and his God. 

The public mind was prepared to act when the notes 
of alarm were sounded, and Whitefield was among the 
first to send them over the land. He had learned the 
secret of Archbishop Seeker's scheme, and the fact that 
the integrity of Puritanism in New England had been 
approached with the bribe of a bishop's mitre for several 
dissenting divines, and he exclaimed to Dr. Langdon, of 
Harvard college, " I can not leave this town without ac- 
quainting you with a secret. My heart bleeds for America. 
0, poor New England ! There is a deep laid plot against 
both your civil and religious liberties, and they will be lost. 
Your golden days are at an end. You have nothing but 
trouble before you. Your liberties will be lost if you are 
not vigilant and brave !" 

From other points alarums were sounded, and the pens 
of ready writers caught up the strain and put forth valiant 
words and hard arguments in opposition. Among the most 
powerful and industrious of these writers in the province of 
New York was William Livingston, (afterward governor of 
New Jersey,) a native of Albany, then about thirty years 
of age, and already eminent as a lawyer in the provincial 
capital. He commenced his task behind the curtain of 
anonymity, and dealt he<avy blows in favor of Presbyter- 
ianism and against episcopacy, in a weekly periodical called 
the Independent Refiector, first published late in 1752. 

For some time the Reflector was devoted to the expos- 
ure and censure of local social and political abuses, and 
the suggestion of ideas practically beneficial to the people. 
The talent displayed, the truths put forth, and the interests 
disturbed by this serial attracted general attention imme- 



76 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [JEt. 20. 

diately, and provoked the strongest opposition. The editor 
spared no party, social, political, or religious ; and he was 
denounced in private circles as an infidel and libertine, and 
in the pulpit as the Gog and Magog of the Apocalypse. 
The mayor, who had felt his lash, recommended the grand 
jury to present the Reflector as a libel, and the author was 
publicly charged with profanity, irreligion, and sedition. 

It was not until the spring of 1753 that the Episcopa- 
lians and their interests were assailed in the Reflector. 
The occasion was the effort (which proved successful) to 
place the College about to be established under the control 
of the Episcopalians. Mr. Livingston was one of the 
small minority of the trustees who were not of that de- 
nomination, and had opposed the measure because the 
Episcopalians were greatly in the minority in the province, 
and the money having been raised by a general tax. Ac- 
cordingly, in March he opened his batteries with great 
force against the measure. His language was bold and de- 
fiant, but dignified and unexceptionable. He caught up 
the alarm notes of Whitefield, and in several numbers he 
most ably discussed the subject of Christianity and its 
mission, and its relations to society and the civil power, 
drawing illustrations for his arguments from the past his- 
tory of the Church of England and events around him. 
Violent opposition immediately appeared, and Barclay, 
Johnson, Auchmuty, and other churchmen answered the 
strictures of the Rejiector in the columns of Gaine's Mer- 
curij. The subject was considered of suflficient importance 
to compose almost the entire theme of a letter written at 
the close of June, 1753, by the Reverend Samuel Johnson 
to Dr. Seeker, the Achbishop of Canterbury. "Among 
other pernicious books," he said, " the Independent Whig 
grows much in vogue, and a notable set of young gentle- 



1753.] THE INDEPENDENT REFLECTOR. 77 

racn of figure in New York have of late set up for writers 
in that way in a weekly paper called the Independent Re- 
Jiector/'' Several worthy gentlemen of the Church in that 
province have of late been embarked in the design of erect- 
ing a college as a seminary of the Church, though with a 
free and generous toleration for other denominations, upon 
which these Keflectors have been indefatigable in their 
paper, and by all possible means, both public and private, 
endeavoring to spirit up the people against us, and to wrest 
it out of the Church's ha.nds and make it a sort of a free- 
thinking, latitudinarian seminary.'j' We have several of us 
been writing in the Church's defense against them, and en- 
deavoring, not without some success, to defeat their perni- 
cious schemes." 

Finally, through the influence of the civil authority, 
the clergy, and the aristocracy, the printers of the Indepen- 
dent Reflector (Parker and Weyman,) were induced to re- 
fuse to print it any longer, and it was closed with the fifty 
second number, on the 22d of November, 1753. But the 
controversy continued for more than ten years, in various 

* It was known that Livingston was the sole conductor of this work, and 
his articles were signed with diflerent initials. But there were some able con- 
tributors besides himself, over different signatures, and as John Moria Scott, 
William Peartree Smith, and William Smith, the historian, coincided with him 
in sentiment, these have been named as his coadjutors. In the letter here 
quoted, ;Mr. Johnson speaks of Mr. Smith (the young man who bore it,) as 
one who had written against the Reflectors. 

f In the spring of 1754, the trustees of the college, stimulated by an offer 
of a tract of land whereon to build an edifice, made by Trinity Church, on 
condition that the head of the college should always be a member of the 
Church of England, and the prayers of the church always to be used in it, 
petitioned Lieutenant Governor De Lancey for a charter containing such pro- 
visions. Livingston alone entered a protest against the prayers of the peti- 
tioners, believing that this college scheme was a part of the great plan 
arranged for uniting Church and State in the colonies. But the act of incor- 
poration, with these sectarian provisions, was passed, and the Reverend 
Samuel Johnson, the writer of this letter, was appointed to the presidency. 



78 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [^T. 20. 

ways, and ihrongh various vehicles. The synod of Con- 
necticut voted thanks to Livingston for his championship ; 
while in Gaine's paper he was lampooned in a poem of 
almost two hundred lines. Livingston wrote anonymously, 
and the poet thus refen-ed to the author : 

" Some think him a TindaU, some think liira a Ckuhb, 
Some think hira a Ranter, that spouts from his tub ; 
Some think him a Newton, some think him a Locke, 
Some tliink him a Sto?ie, some think him a Stock-— 
But a Stock he at least may thank Nature for giving, 
And if he's a Stone, I pronounce it a Living." 

Young Schuyler was in New York when the forty-sixth 
number of the Reflector appeared, which contained the 
editor's " creed" in thirty-nine articles. In a letter to a 
friend, whose name does not appear in the manuscript, he 
said : "I send you the forty-sixth number of the Inde- 
'pendent Eefledor, which is making a notable stir here. 
The clergy, and all churchmen, are in arms against it, and 
our friend, Will. Livingston, who is the principal writer, 
is thought by some to be one of the most promising men in 
the province. I esteem the Church and its liturgy, but I 
believe he is right in opposing the ridiculous pretensions of 
the clergy, who would make it as infallible as the Popish 
Church claims to be. I wish liberty of conscience in all 
things, and I believe our friend is right when he says, ' Our 
faith, like our stomachs, may he overcharged, especially if 
ive are j^^ohibited to cheiv tvhat ive are commanded to 
swallow.' " 

The foregoing glance at the social and religious aspect 
of New York, at the period we are considering, will be 
found essential as we proceed in our researches concerning 
the development of events that led to the old war for in- 
dependence, in which Philip Schuyler bore a conspicuous 



1753.] NEW YORK CITY. 79 

aud noble part, because in these elements we may perceive 
the philosophy of the history of those times. 

A brief delineation of some of the most prominent 
material characteristics of the city of New York, the me- 
tropohs of the province, is equally necessary for the same 
reasons, because the quarrel was based upon interests in- 
volving principles of a moral and material character. 

New York city, at that time, contained about thirteen 
thousand inhabitants, of whom about two thousand were 
negroes, who were mostly held in easy servitude as bond 
slaves. There were about twenty-five hundred buildings 
in the city, many of them of brick, covered with tiles, and 
most of them presenting an aspect of comfort and thrift. 
Fine country residences, suiTOunded by gardens and pas- 
tures, embellished the suburbs, and some of the town resi- 
dences were comparatively palatial. The city was almost 
a mile in length, and about half a mile in its greatest 
breadth. Some of the streets were paved with huge peb- 
bles, as in rural cities and villages at the present, but nearly 
all of them were irregular in their linear relations and 
course. Its markets were well supplied with fish, flesh, 
and vegetables of every kind, the latter being chiefly raised 
by Dutch farmers on Harlem Plains, near the northern end 
of the island. " No part of America," says a cotemporary 
writer,* "is better supplied with markets abounding with 
greater plenty and variety. * -•■■ "■•'•■ Our oysters are a con- 
siderable article in support of the poor. Their beds are 
within view of the town ; a fleet of two hundred small 
craft are often seen there, at a time, when the weather ia 
mild in winter ; and this single article is computed to be 
worth, annually, £10,000 or £12,000." 

The merchants of New York were justly compared to 

* William Smith. 



80 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [iEt. 20. 

a hive of bees gathering honey for others, for the largest 
portion of the profits of tlicir trade centered in Great Bri- 
tain. They were not allowed to traffic except with Great 
Britain or its colonies ; and acts of Parliament forbade 
various domestic manufactures, so that many necessary ar- 
ticles which the colonists might have made for themselves 
were imported from England. 

They exported to the British West Indies bread, peas, 
rye, meal, Indian corn, apples, onions, boards, staves, horses, 
sheep, butter, cheese, pickled oysters, beef and pork. Of 
flour alone they shipped about eighty thousand barrels a 
year. Their returns consisted chiefly of rum, sugar, and 
molasses from the islands, and cash from Curagoa, and the 
balance in this trade was always in favor of the New York 
merchants. They imported cotton from St. Thomas and 
Surinam, lime-juice and Nicaragua wood from Cura9oa, 
and logwood from the Bay of Honduras. They exported 
flax seed to Ireland and logwood and fm's to England, but 
the balance was always largely against the colonists. The 
importation of dry goods alone from Great Britain was so 
great that they often found it very difficult to make re- 
mittances. They were consequently di'ained of gold and 
silver by the British merchants. The annual importation 
of goods from Great Britain by the colony of New York, 
at that time (1753 to 1760), was estimated at not less 
than one hundred thousand pounds sterling. 

The city of New York, incorporated more than sixty 
years before, was divided into seven wards, under the gov- 
ernment of a mayor, recorder, aldermen and assistant 
aldermen, who formed a common council. The mayor, 
sherifi" and coroner, were annually appointed by the gov- 
ernor, and the recorder, holding a patent from the same 
officer, was dependent upon his pleasure for the term of his 



1753.J DEFENSES OF NEW YORK CITY. 81 

official career. The annual revenue of the corporation 
was nearly two thousand pounds a year, and the standing 
militia of the island consisted of twenty- three hundred 
men. The city had also, in reserve, one thousand stand of 
arms for seamen, the poor, and others, in case of an inva- 
sion. 

A strong fortification was upon the lower end of the 
island, on the site of the old Fort Amsterdam, called Fort 
George, in which was the governor's house, three stories in 
height and pleasantly fronting the bay ; also brick barracks, 
originally built for the accommodation of the independent 
companies. A large battery had just been erected east- 
ward of the fort, built of stone, cedar joists and earth, on 
which ninety-two cannon were mounted ; and in front was 
Nutten (now Grovernor's) Island, which was made a de- 
mesne for the governors by an act of the colonial assembly, 
on which the erection of a strong castle was then under 
discussion, it being an eligible point for an enemy to plant 
batteries to bombard the town. A greater portion of the 
palisades and block-houses erected during the alarm caused 
by the enemy's inroads on the northern frontier in 1745, 
extending from the East river to the' Hudson, nearly on a 
line with the present Chambers street, were yet remaining, 
"a monument to our folly," says Judge Smith, "which 
cost £8,000." 

Such was New York at the opening of the French and 
Indian war, a little more than a hundred years ago, during 
which the province became the theatre of the most stirring 
scenes of that contest. 

4* 



CHAPTER V. 

In the old family Bible that belonged to General Schuy- 
ler may be seen, in his hand-writing, this record : " In the 
Year 1755, on the 17th of September, was I, Philip John 
Schuyler, married (in the 21st Year, 9th Month, and 17th 
Day of his Age,) to Catharine Van Rensselaer, aged 20 
Years, 9 Months, and 27 Days. May we live in peace and 
to the glory of God." 

This was the "sweet Kitty V. R." mentioned in Philip's 
letter in the preceding chapter. She was a daughter of 
Colonel Joharmes Van Rensselaer, of Claverack, in the 
present Columbia county. New York. They were married 
by tliat excellent minister of the Reformed Dutch church 
in Albany, Dominie Frelinghuysen. She was delicate but 
perfect in form and feature ; of medium height, extremely 
graceful in her movdments, and winning in her deport- 
ment; well educated, in comparison with others, of sprightly 
temperament, possessed of great finnness and tenacity of 
will, and was very frugal, industrious and methodical. 

The benediction implored by the husband in his mar- 
riage record ajjpears to have been granted in full measure, 
for his spouse, who bore him fourteen children, and was his 
companion for eight-and-forty years, was all that a man 
could desiri" as the wife of his bosom, the joy and solace of 
his life, and the mother of his offspring. They loved each 
other tenderly, bore the burdens of life together lovingly 
and patiently, enjoyed God's blessings abundantly and 



1'755.] PERSONAL APPEAEANCE OF SCHUYLER. 83 

thankfully, and ended their pilgrimage almost at the same 
time, only the space of twenty months separating them on 
earth. Of her it might have been truthfully said, at every 
period of her life, she was 

" A Being breathing thoughtful breath, 
A Traveler between life and death ; 
The reason firm, tlie temperate will, 
Endurance, foresight, strength and skill; 
A perfect Woman, nobly planned 
To warn, to comfort, and command ; ' 

And yet a Spirit still, and bright, 
With something of an angel hght." 

Mrs. Grant, in her admirable sketches of persons and 
events during Jier residence with " Aunt Schuyler" at the 
Flats, has given a brief outline of the portraiture of Philip 
as it was impressed upon her memoiy ten years after his 
man-iage. He was then known as " Philip Schuyler of the 
Pasture," to distinguish him from a kinsman of the same 
name, who lived with the Colonel at the Flats as his ex- 
pectant heir. " He appeared," says Mrs. Grant, " merely 
a careless, good humored young man. Never was any one 
so little what he seemed with regard to ability, activity and 
ambition, art, enterprise and perseverance, all of which he 
possessed in an eminent degree, though no man had less 
the appearance of these qualities. Easy, complying, and 
good humored, the conversations, full of wisdom and sound 
policy, of which he had been a seemingly inattentive wit- 
ness at the Flats, only slept in his recollection, to wake in 
full force when called forth by occasion." 

Mrs. Grant's picture of society and of domestic life at 
the Flats is so charming, and also so useful in forming a 
truthful estimate of the home life of young Schuyler and 
his youthful wife, (for their own household was modeled in 
a manner after that of " Aunt Schuyler's," under whose 



84 PHILIP s c n u Y L E u . [^T. 2a 

roof they spent miicli time,) that no apology is needed fd 
giving it here ahnost entire. At this time " Aimt Schuy 
ler" was on the evening side of life, and was so corpulent 
that she moved about with difficulty, yet she entertained 
her guests with delightful ease, and enjoyed society with a 
zest that many might envy. " After the middle of life," 
says Mrs. Grant, " she went little out ; her household, long 
since arranged by general rules, went regularly on, because 
eveiy domestic knew exactly the duties of his or her place, 
and dreaded losing it as the greatest possible misfortune. 
She had always with her some young person, ' who was 
unto her as a daughter,' who was her friend and companion, 
and bred up in such a manner as to qualify her for being 
such, and one of whose duties it was to inspect the state 
of the household, and 'report progi*ess' with regard to the 
operations going on in the various departments. For no 
one better understood, or more justly estimated, the duties 
of housewifery. Thus those young females who had the 
happiness of being bred under her auspices very soon be- 
came quaUtied to assist her instead of encroaching much 
on her time. The example and conversation of the family 
in which they lived was to them a perpetual school of use- 
ful knowledge, and manners easy and dignified, though 
natural and artless. They were not, indeed, embellished, 
but then they were not deformed by affectation, preten- 
sions, or defective imitation of fashionable models of man- 
ners. They were not, indeed, bred up ' to dance, to dress, 
to roll the ey , or troll the tongue ;' yet they were not lec- 
tured with unnatural gravity or frozen reserve. I have seen 
those of them who were lovely, gay, and animated, though, 
in the words of an old familiar lyric, 

' Without disguise or art, like flowers that grace the A^ild, 
Their sweets they did impart wliene'er thoy spoko or smiled.' 



1755.] AUNT SOHUYLER'S HOUSEHOLD. 85 

" Aunt," continiies Mrs. Grant, " was a great manager 
of her time, and always contrived to create leisure hours 
for reading ; for that kind of conversation which is properly 
styled gossiping she had the utmost contempt. Light, su- 
perficial reading, such as merely fills a blank in time, and 
glides over the mind without leaving an impression, was 
little known there, for few books crossed the Atlantic but 
such as were worth carrying so far for their intrinsic value. 
She was too much accustomed to have her mind occupied 
with objects of real weight and importance to give it up 
to frivolous pursuits of any kind. She began the morning 
with reading the Scriptures. They always breakfasted 
early and dined two hours later than the jsrimitive inhabi- 
tants, who always took that meal at twelve. This depar- 
ture from the ancient customs was necessary in this family, 
to accommodate the great number of British as well as 
strangers from New York, who were daily entertained at 
her liberal table. This arrangement gave her the advan- 
tage of a long forenoon to dispose of After breakfast she 
ga.ve orders for the family details of the day, which, with- 
out a scrupulous attention to those minutiae which fell 
more properly under the notice of her young friends, she 
always regulated in the most judicious manner, so as to 
prevent all appearance of hurry and confusion. There 
was such a rivalry among domestics, whose sole ambition 
was her favor, and who had been trained up from infancy, 
each to their several duties, that excellence in each depart- 
ment was the result both of habit and emulation ; while 
her young proteges were early taught the value and impor- 
tance of good housewifery, and were sedulous in their at- 
tention to little matters of decoration and elegance which 
her mind was too much engrossed to attend to ; so that her 
household affairs, ever well regulated, went on in a mechan- 



86 p H I L 1 P S C H U Y L j: K . [JEi: 22. 

ical kind of progress that seemed to engage little of her at- 
tention, though her vigilant and overruling mind set every 
spring of action in motion. 

" Having thus easily and speedily arranged the details 
of the day,, she retired to read in her closet, where she gen- 
erally remained till about eleven, when, being unequal to 
distant walks, the Colonel and she, and some of her elder 
guests, passed some of the hotter hours among those em- 
bowering shades of her garden, in which she took great 
pleasure. Here was their Lyceum ; here questions in reli- 
gion and morality, too weighty for table-talk, were leisurely 
and coolly discussed, and plans of policy and various util- 
ity arranged. From this retreat they adjourned to the 
portico, and while the Colonel either retired to write, or 
■went to give directions to his servants, she sat in this little 
tribunal, giving audience to new settlers, followers of the 
army left in hopeless dependence, and others who wanted 
assistance or advice, or hoped she would intercede with the 
Colonel for something more peculiarly in his way, he hav- 
ing great influence with the colonial government. 

"At the usual hour her dinner party assembled, which 
was generally a large one ; and here I must digress from 
the detail of the day to observe that, looking up as I al- 
ways did to Madame with admiring veneration, and having 
always heard her mentioned with unqualified applause, I 
look often back to think what defects or ftiults she could 
possibly have to rank with the sons and daughters of imper- 
fection inhabiting this transitory scene of existence, well 
knowing, from subsequent observation of life, that error is 
the unavoidable portion of humanity. Yet of this truism, 
to which every one will readily subscribe, I can recollect no 
l)roof in my friend's conduct, unless the luxury of her table 
might be produced to confirm it. Yet this, after all, was 



1755] PICTURES OF SOCIAL LIFE. 87 

but comparative luxury. There was more choice and se- 
lection, and perhaps more abundance at her table than at 
those of the other primitive inhabitants, yet how simple 
were her repasts compared with those which the luxury 
of the higher ranks of this country offer to provoke the 
sated appetite. Her dinner party generally consisted of 
some of her intimate friends or near relations ; her adopted 
children, who were inmates for the time being ; and stran- 
gers, sometimes invited merely as friendly travelers, on the 
score of hospitality, but often welcomed for some time as 
stationary visitors, on account of worth or talents, that 
gave value to their society ; and lastly, military guests, se- 
lected with some discrimination on account of the young 
friends, who they wished not only to protect, but cultivate 
by an improving association. Conversation here was always 
rational, generally instructive and often cheerful. 

" The afternoon frequently brought with it a new set 
of guests. Tea was always drank eail^y here, and, as I have 
formerly observed, was attended with so many petty lux- 
uries of pastry, confectionery, etc., t]iat it might well be 
accounted a meal by those whose earlv and frugal dinners 
had so long gone by. In Albany it was customary, after 
the heat of the day was past, for young people to go in 
parties of three or four, in open carriages, to drink tea at 
an hour or two's drive from home. Xiie receiving and en- 
tertaining of this sort of company, gunerally, was the pro- 
vince of the younger part of the family, and of those, 
many came, in summer evenings, to the Flats, when tea, 
which was very early, was over. The young people, and 
those who were older, took their differing walks, while 
Madame sat in her portico, engaged in what might com- 
paratively be called light reading — essays, biography, poe- 
try, etc., till the younger party set out on their return 



88 P II I L 1 P S C H U Y L E R . [^T. 22. 

homo, and hor domestic friends rejoined her in her portico, 
where, in warm evenings, a slight repast was sometimes 
brought ; l)ut they more frequently shared the last and 
most truly social meal within. Winter made little differ- 
ence in her mode of occupying her time. She then always 
retired to her closet to read at stated periods. 

" The hospitahties of this family were so far beyond 
their apparent income that all strangers were astonished 
at them. To account for this it must be observed that, in 
the first place, there was perhaps scarce an instance of a 
family possessing such uncommonly well-trained, active, 
and diligent slaves as that Avliich I describe. The set that 
were staid servants when they were man-ied had some of 
them died off by the time I knew the family, but the prin- 
cipal roots, from whence the many branches then flourish- 
ing sprung, yet remained. There were two women who had 
come originally from Africa while very young. They were 
most excellent servants, and the mothers or grandmothers 
of the whole set, except one white wooled negro-man, who, 
in my time, sat by the chimney and made shoes for all the 
rest. 

" The great pride and happiness of these sable matrons 
was to bring up their children to dexterity, diligence, and 
obedience, Diana being determined that Maria's children 
Bhould not excel hers in any quality which was a recom- 
mendation to fovor ; and Maria equally resolved that hei 
brood, in the race of excellence, should outstrip Diana's 
Nevt.T was a more fervent competition. That of Phillis 
and Brnnetta, in the Spectator, was a trifle to it, and it 
was extremely difficult to decide on their respective merits; 
for though Maria's son Prince cut down wood with more 
dexterity and dispatch than any one in the province, the 
mighty Caesar, son of Diana, cut down wheat and thrashed 



1765.] A MODEL HOUSEHOLD. 89 

it better than he. His sister Betty, who, to her misfortune, 
was a beauty of her kind, and possessed wit equal to her 
beauty, was the best seamstress and laundress by far I have 
ever known ; and the plain, unpretending Rachel, sister to 
Prince, wife to Titus, alias Tyte, and head cook, dressed 
dinners that might have pleased Apicius. I record my 
humble friends by their real names because they allowedly 
stood at the head of their own class, and distinction of 
every kind should be respected. 

" Of the inferior personages in this drama I have been 
characterizing it would be tedious to tell ; suffice it that, 
besides filling up all the lower departments of the house- 
hold, and cultivating to the highest advantage a most ex- 
tensive farm, there was a thorough-bred carpenter and 
shoemaker, and a universal genius who made canoes, nets, 
and paddles, shod horses, mended implements of husbandry, 
managed the fishing, in itself no small department, reared 
hemp and tobacco, made cider and tended wild horses, as 
they call them, which it was his province to "break." For 
every branch of domestic economy there was a person al- 
lotted — educated for the purpose ; and this society was 
kept immaculate in the same way that the Quakers pre- 
served the rectitude of theirs — and indeed in the only way 
that any community can be preserved from corruption — 
when a member showed symptoms of degeneracy he was 
immediately expelled, or, in other words more suitable to 
this case, sold. 

" The habit of living together under the same mild 
though regular government produced a general cordiality 
and affection among all the members of the family, who 
were truly ruled by the law of love ; and even those who 
occasionally diflered about trifles had an unconscious at- 
tachment to each other, which showed itself on all emer- 



90 p H I L I P S C H U Y L E R . [-^T. 22. 

gencies. Treated themselves with care and gentleness, they 
were careful and kind with regard to the only inferiors and 
dependents they had, tlie domestic animals. The superior 
personages in the family had always some good property to 
mention or good saying to repeat of those whom they cher- 
ished into attachment and exalted into intelligence ; while 
they, in their turn, improved the sagacity of their subject 
animals by caressing and talking to them. Let no one 
laugh at this, for whenever a man is at ease and unsophis- 
ticated, when his native humanity is not extinguished by 
Avant or chilled by oppression, it overflow's to inferior beings 
and improves their instincts to a degree incredible to those 
who have not witnessed it. 

" The Princes and Cci3sars of the Flats had as much to 
tell of the sagacity and attachments of the animals as their 
mistress related of their own. ■••'• * '•■■ Each negro was in- 
dulged with his raccoon, his gray squirrel or muskrat, or 
perhaps his beaver, which he tamed and attached to him- 
self by daily feeding and caressing him in the farm-yard 
One was sure about all such houses to find these animals, 
in which their masters took the highest pleasure. All 
these small features of human nature must not be despised 
for their minuteness. To a good mind they afi'ord conso- 
lation."'-' 

Such was the pattern of a home after which Philip 
Schuyler and his wife arranged their own, though on a less 
extensive scale at first, for his fine mansion, yet standing 
at the head of Schuyler street, in Albany, where hospital- 
ity was dispensed to friends and strangers with almost 
prmcely jilenitudc for forty years, was not erected until 
about 17G5. As the elder son he came into possession of 
the real estate of his father when he attained his majority 

* Memoirs of an American Lady. 



1755.] NOBLE GENEROSITY. 91 

in the autumn of 1754, and his residence, during the earlier 
years of his married life, was in the family mansion at Al- 
bany, with his mother and sister. The property which he 
received by entail was large, but his nature was too noble 
to be governed by the selfishness which the laws of primo- 
geniture allowed and which universal practice sanctioned, 
and he generously shared his patrimony with his brothers 
and sister. This act was more remarkable because his life 
and experience were intimately connected with the aristo- 
cracy of the province, who held the largest landed estates 
in the country. With these the justice of primogeniture 
laws was never questioned, nor their privileges ever refused 
by the fortunate elder son ; and a relinquishment of these 
privileges and advantages for the benefit of others was a 
thing unknown. But Philip Schuyler was innately just, 
noble and generous, and liis act was nothing but a natural 
manifestation of these qualities. His sense of right and 
the fraternal yearnings of his sj)irit would have been out- 
raged by any other course ; and so, governed by his natural 
impulses, and with a beautiful loyalty to conscience which 
no pecuniary advantages could bribe, he divided his houses 
and lands, and gave to each of his mother's children an 
equal share with himself. 

The nuptials of Philip Schuyler, like those of his great 
compatriot and friend, George Washington, were celebrated 
at the close of the most active duties of a campaign in 
which he had been engaged. The treaty at Aix-la-Chapelle 
had secured nothing but a hollow truce for the colonists. 
Peace reigned in Europe, but war was again raging between 
the English and provincials on one side and the French and 
Indians on the other, in the forests of America. Blood had 
already flowed profusely near the banks of the Mononga- 
hela and of Lake George ; and the shifting scenes of poll- 



92 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [iEx. 22, 

tical events in the New World, and especially in the 
province of New York were now grand and imposing, for 
the magnificent drama of the French and Indian War — ■ 
the memorable Seven Years War, performed upon two 
continents and the stormy ocean that separated them — was 
in full }:>rogress. 

Eightly to understand that drama, we must become fa- 
miliar with the leading facts in the history of its rehearsals 
in the colonies, and view, if only in hurried glances, the 
progress of its preparations until the curtain was lifted and 
the actors appeared in character before the great audience 
of nations. To do this let us go behind the scenes for a mo- 
ment, and in the green room of retrospection hold ftimiliar 
conversation with individual players. With the acts of 
the drama that were performed in the Old World we need 
have little to do except to observe the links of their con- 
nection with the plot ; for Philip Schuyler, whose life and 
times we are delineating, and who now, for the first time, 
appeared as a public actor, had no part in transatlantic 
scenes. His sphere of action and influence was in the 
colony in which himself and family for three generations 
had lived. From the colonial governor he received his 
first commission as a military officer, and among colonial 
troops he first drew his sword in defense of his country and 
the honor of the British realm. 



CHAPTEH VI. 

The treaty of Aix-la-Chaj^elle, as we have observed, 
was practically only a contract for a tiTice. The treaty of 
Utrecht, made in 1713, guaranteed to England all Nova 
Scotia included in ancient Acadie, and to the Five Na- 
tions of Indians, subject to Great Britain, the peaceable 
enjoyment of all their well-defined rights and privileges. 
But so indefinite were the terms of the treaty of Aix-la- 
Chapelle in 1748, notwithstanding the treaty of 1713 was 
held as its basis, the real difficulties which gave rise to the 
last war remained unsettled. The agreement that bound- 
aries should remain as before the war was so vague in 
terms, considering the fact that for almost thirty years 
those very boundaries had been a subject for contention, 
that interpretation was difficult. As early as 1721, France 
had erected Fort St. Frederick on Crown Point, within 
territory always claimed by Great Britain and the Five 
Nations ; and before the signing of the treaty of Aix-la- 
Chapelle, in 1748, the French had constructed almost 
twenty forts and several stockades and trading places on 
soil claimed by the British crown. France, at that time, 
was putting forth all her energies in carrying forward 
schemes of aggrandizement at various points in the Medi- 
terranean, the East and West Indies, and in North Amer- 
ica. She doubtless intended the peace to be only a truce, 
BO that whilst England was inactive she might strike deeper 
the roots of her dominion, especially in the New World, for 



94 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [^T. 21. 

her Jesuit priests, with the banner of the cross in one hand 
ind the truncheon of secular enterprises in the other, had 
penetrated the wonderful vallies of the Great West, and 
revealed their boundless wealth to their nation. 

At the time we are considering the French in America 
were not more than one hundred thousand in number, and 
scattered in trading settlements for nearly a thousand miles 
along the St. Lawrence and our immense lakes, and also at 
points on the Mississippi and its tributaries, and the Gulf 
of Mexico ; whilst the English numbered more than a mil- 
lion, and occupied the Atlantic seaboard, in the form of 
afrricultural communities, more than a thousand miles in a 
line eastward of the Alleghany Mountains and far north- 
ward toward the St. Lawrence, from the St. Mary's in 
Florida to the Penobscot in Maine. 

The trading posts and missionary stations of the French, 
deep in the wilderness, at first attracted very little atten- 
tion, but when, after the capture of Louisburg, in 1745, 
they built strong vessels at the foot of Lake Ontario, and 
commenced the erection of a cordon of fortifications more 
than sixty in number between Montreal and New Orleans, 
the English perceived the necessity of arousing to imme- 
diate and vigorous opposition. Disputes soon arose, and 
these resulted in hostile action. The territorial question 
was revived, and both parties appeared to be in a mood to 
settle it by a passage at arms. A peaceful company of 
speculators brought the matter to issue in this wise : 

In 1749 King George of England conveyed, by grant, 
six hundred thousand acres of land on the southeast bank 
of the Ohio river to an association composed of London 
merchants and Virginia speculators, giving them, at the 
same time, the exclusive privilege of trafficking with the 
Indians. The association was called The Ohio Company^ 



1747.] WASHINaTONS MISSION. 95 

and, anxious to bring their domain into market, they sent 
surveyors to explore and settle the boundaries of it. At 
the same time English traders penetrated the country 
northward of the Ohio, as far as the Miami villages, to 
traffic with the willing Indians. The jealousy of the French 
traders was aroused, and at Piqua, an Indian village, a 
skirmish ensued between traders of the two nationalities, 
when the first blood was shed in the cruel war that ensued. 

In 1753, the governor of Canada detached twelve hun- 
dred French soldiers to occupy the Ohio valley, to the ex- 
clusion of the English. They built a fort, first on the south 
shore of Lake Erie, near the village of that name, then on 
the Venango (French Creek), near the present village of 
Waterford, and a third at the junction of the Alleghany 
river and French Creek, at the village of Franklin. The 
Ohio Company complained of this intrusion, and as their 
land lay within the chartered limits of Virginia, the lieu- 
tenant-governor of that province, Robert Dinwiddle, felt 
called upon to espouse their cause. He resolved to first try 
diplomacy, and accordingly, in the autumn of 1753, he 
sent George Washington, then, a young man less than 
twenty-two years of age, to confer with Le Gardeur de St. 
Pierre, the commander of the French troops, and to present 
to him a letter of remonstrance against his occupancy of 
English soil. 

It was late in autumn when Washington, with only 
two or three attendants, departed upon his perilous journey 
of full four hundred miles towards Lake Erie, though a 
dark wilderness and many tribes of savage men. Ice, snow, 
floods, all lay in his path, yet he accomplished his under- 
taking to the satisfaction of those who sent him. His 
mission, however, seemed unfruitful. St. Pierre received 
him courteously, treated him hospitably four or five days, 



96 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [^t. 2L 

and then gave him a written answer to Dinwiddle in a 
sealed envelope. Washington had heard the important 
fact of the hostile designs of the French from the lips of 
officers made incautious by a free use of wine, and with 
this information, and a knowledge of the strength and po- 
sition of the French posts, he returned to Williamsburg 
with St. Pierre's letter to Dinwiddle. That letter simply 
Informed the Virginia magistrate that the commander of 
the French was acting under the orders of the Marquis Du 
Quesne, the governor-general of Canada, and that he should 
not withdraw his troops from the Ohio country, as Dinwid- 
dle demanded. 

Dinwiddle was a wrong-headed, avaricious Scotchman, 
and had already made the Virginians restive under i-oyal 
rule. He was concerned in the Ohio Compaiuj, and resolved 
to make war upon the French intruders, but when he evoked 
the civil aid of the province, In giving sanction to an expe- 
dition and providing means for its support, he found pow- 
erful opposition in the Legislature and among the people. 
Their patriotism was appealed to, and at length the Legis- 
lature voted fiftv thousand dollars for the support of troops 
enlisted for an exjjedition. The other colonies were invited 
to cooperate, but none responded affirmatively except iJ^orth 
Carolina, from whose bosom, on the recommendation of her 
Legislature, four hundred volunteers were soon on their way 
toward Winchester. A few volunteers from South Caro- 
lina and New York hastened toward the seat of war, while 
in Virginia a regiment of six hundred men was formed, with 
ColonelJoshua Fry as commander, and Major Washington 
as his lieutenant. These rendezvoused at Alexandria, and, 
with Washington at the head of the advanced corps, 
marched toward the Ohio at the beginning of April, 1753. 

In the meantime the Ohio Company had sent thirty 



1754.] THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR. 97 

men to construct a fort at the junction of the Alleghany 
and Monongahela rivers. They were attacked and driven 
away by some French troops, who completed the fortifica- 
tion and named it Du Quesne, in honor of the governor of 
Canada. Washington was within forty miles of that point, 
with the advanced guard, when intelligence of the event 
reached him, with the information that a strong force of 
the enemy were on their way to intercept him. He fell 
back to a place called the Great Meadows, and there erected 
a stockade, which he named Fort Necessity. While it was 
in progress he sent out a party to attack the advanced 
guard of the French. They were successful. At the dead 
of night the Virginians fell upon the sleeping Frenchmen, 
and Jumonville, their commander, and nine of his men were 
slain. Of fifty who formed the detachment only fifteen 
escaped. 

Two days after this event Colonel Fry died, and the 
command of the expedition fell upon young Washington. 
With about four hundred men he proceeded toward Fort 
Du Quesne. He had not advanced far when he was in- 
formed that a brother of the slain Jumom^ille, with at 
least a thousand Indians and some Frenchmen were march- 
ing to avenge the death of his kinsman. Washington im- 
mediately fell back to Fort Necesssity, where he was at- 
tacked by fifteen hundred foes. After a conflict of ten 
hours he was compelled to capitulate, on the 4th of July, 
but on honorable terms, and he and his men returned to 
Virginia. Thus was inaugurated the French and Indian 
War, which afterward raged vigorously in northern New 
York. 

While these military operations were in progi-ese, a civil 
movement of great importance was seen at Albany, the 
residence of Philip Schuyler. It was the meeting of the 



93 THILIP SCHUYLER. [JEt. 21. 

representatives of seven of the Anglo-American colonies, 
to consult upon a plan for a federal union, so as to oppose 
a strong front to the common enemy seated upon the St. 
Lawrence and the lakes. This was really the primal object 
of the members of the convention ; a secondary and im- 
portant one was to strengthen the bond between the Eng- 
lish and the Six Nations. 

The necessity for such union, and such friendship with 
the Indians, had been felt f )r some time, yet the home gov- 
ernment, when it proposed the convention by a circular 
letter addressed by Lord Holderness to all the colonies, did 
not contemplate a permanent political union ; only a tem- 
porary confederation in time of danger against a menacing 
enemy. In that letter his lordship declared the chief de- 
sign of tlic convention to be the renewal of treaties with 
the Six Nations. 

Only seven of the thirteen colonies responded to the 
call, namely, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Connecti- 
cut, New York, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania and Maryland. 
Delegates from these provinces assembled at the old City 
Hall, in Albany, on the 19th of June, 1754, and the con- 
vention was organized by the appointment of James De 
Lancey, the lieutenant governor of New York, as their 
president."-' Chiefs of the Six Nations had come with 
tardy steps, and only one hundred and fifty were in attend- 
ance. Hendriek, the great Mohawk warrior, who was slain 

* The followinfj are the ntxraes of the commissioners from the several 
States: New York. — James De Lancey, Joseph Murraj^, William Johnson, 
John Chambers, William Smith. Massachitselis. — Samuel Welles, John Chan- 
dler, Thomas Hutchinson, Oliver Partridge, John Worthington. Mw Hamp- 
ghirf, — Theodore Atkinson, Richard Wibird, Mesheck Weare, Henry Sher- 
burne. Connectirut. — Wilham Pitkin, Roger Wolcott, Elisha Williams. Wwde 
Is'aufl. — Stephen Hopkins, Martin Howard. Pennsylvania. — John Penn, 
benjamin Franklin, Richard Peters, Isaac Norris. Maryland. — Benjamin 
Tiiskor, Bcnj.imin Bamea. 



1761.] AN INDIAN ORATOR. 99 

in battle near Lake George the following year, was their 
principal speaker, 

De Lancey opened the business of the convention by a 
speech to the Indians, interpreted by Colonel Myndert 
Schuyler, one of the commissioners, and was responded to 
by Hendrick. That powerful, white-haired warrior, a noble 
specimen of his race, arose with grave mien, and advancing 
a few steps, held up the chain belt which had been given 
him by the lieutenant-governor and the chief magistrates 
of other colonies, and said : " We return you all our 
grateful acknowledgments for renewing and brightening 
the covenant chain. We will take this belt to Onondaga, 
[the federal capital of the Six Nations,] where our council- 
fire always burns, and keep it so securely that neither 
thunder nor lightning shall break it. There we will con- 
sult over it, and we hope when you show this belt again, 
we shall give you reason to rejoice at it. In the meantime 
we desire that you will strengthen yourselves, and bring as 
many into this covenant chain as you possibly can." Then, 
his eyes flashing indignation at the remembrance of the 
past, when the French swept down the Hudson valley to 
Saratoga, and there were no forts to impede their progress, 
he said : 

"You desired us to open our minds and hearts to you. 
You have asked us the reason of our living in this dis- 
persed manner. The reason is, your neglecting us these 
three years past." Then casting a stick behind him, he 
continued : " You have thus thrown us behind your back 
and disregarded us, whereas the French are a subtle and 
vigilant people, ever using their utmost endeavors to seduce 
and bring our people over to them. Look at the French ! 
They are men; they are fortifying everywhere. But, we 
are ashamed to say it, you are like women, bare and open, 



100 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [^T. 21. 

without any fortifications. It is but one step from Canada 
hither, and the French may easily come and turn you out 
of doors." 

Through this neglect during the political strife in the 
province, that had raged violently for several years, the 
Six Nations had become extensively disaffected. Full one 
half of the Onondagas had Avithdrawn and joined a settle- 
ment near the site of Ogdensburgh, at the mouth of the 
Oswegatchie, under the protection of the guns of the old 
French fort Presentation. Even some of the Mohawks 
uttered loud complaints, but through the influence of Hen- 
drick, and one or two others, they were retained as fast 
friends of the English. 

While the business of the convention was in progress, 
that body, responding to an invitation of the Massachusetts 
delegates, took into consideration the expediency of form- 
ing a federative union of the colonies. The subject was 
referred to a committee consisting of one member of each 
delegation present.* Several plans were proposed, when 
Dr. Franklin, whose fertile mind had conceived the neces- 
sity of a union and the form of a confederation, arose and 
submitted a draft of a scheme for the consideration of the 
convention. The subject was debated "hand in hand." 
Franklin observed, " with the Indian business, daily, for 
twelve consecutive days ;" and at length a report, as sub- 
stantially drawn by him, was adopted, the Connecticut 
delegates alone dissenting. 

Franklin's plan of union, having, in many respects, a 
remarkablu similarity to the Federal Constitution formed 
by himself and others thirty-three years afterward, proposed 

• The committeo consisted of Hutchinson of Massachusetts, Atkinson of 
New Hampshire, Pitkin of Connecticut, Hopkins of Rhode Island, Smith of 
New York, Franklin of Pennsylvania, and Tasker of Maryland. 



1754.] PROPOSED FEDERAL UNION. 101 

a grand council of forty-eight members — seven from Vir- 
ginia, seven from Massachusetts, six from Pennsylvania, 
five from Connecticut, four each from New York, Mary- 
land, and the two Carolinas, three from Ncav Jersey, and 
two each from New Hampshire and Khode Island. The 
number of forty-eight was to remain fixed, no colony to have 
more than seven nor less than two members ; but the ap- 
portionment to vary within those limits, with the rates of 
contribution. This council was to have the general man- 
agement of civil and military affairs. It was to have con- 
trol of the armies, the apportionment of men and money, 
and to enact general laws in conformity with the British 
Constitution, and not in contravention of statutes passed 
by the imperial Parliament. It was to have for its head a 
president general, appointed by the crown, to possess a ne- 
gative or veto power on all acts of the council, and to have, 
with the advice of the council, the appointment of all mil- 
itary officers and the entire management of Indian afiairs. 
Civil officers were to be appointed by the council, with the 
consent of the president.* 

The seat of the proposed federal government was to be 
Philadelphia, then a central city in the colonies, and where, 
it was alleged, the representatives would be "well and 
cheaply accommodated." It was also suggested that if the 
whole journey to the seat of government had to be performed 
on horseback, (much of it could be accomplished by water,) 
" the most distant members, namely, the two from New 
Hampshire and from South Carolina, might probably ren- 
der themselves *at Philadelphia in fifteen or twenty dmjs!"-\ 

The plan of union was doomed to a singular fate. 
Franklin was greeted at New York, when he went down 

* Pitkin's Political and Civil History of the United States, L 143. 
f Life and WriiiTigs of Franklin, iii. 42. 



102 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [^T. 2L 

the Hudson from the council at Albany, with every demon- 
stration of joy as the mover of American union, hut the 
several colonial assemblies, viewing it with the jealous eye 
that watched over the individual liberties of the colonies, 
rejected it as too aristocratic — too much prerogative in it 
— partaking too largely of the centralization of power ; 
while the Lords of Trade, to whom it was submitted, did. 
not approve of it nor recommend it to the King, because it 
was too democratic. Perhaps some minds among them 
may have been sagacious enough to perceive the danger it 
might work to the integrity of the British realm. 

The Boaid of Trade had already proposed a plan of 
their own : — a grand assembly of colonial governors and 
certain select members of their several councils, with power 
to draw on the British treasury, the sums thus drawn to 
be reimbursed by taxes imposed in the colonies by the Bri- 
tish Parliament. This proposition found no favor with the 
colonists, and Massachusetts gave her agent in England 
special instructions " to oppose everything that should have 
the remotest tendency to raise a revenue in America for 
any public use or services of government." 

The capacious mind of Franklin conceived, at this time, 
an empire more magnificent than the one contemplated in 
the union of the then existing colonies. The convention 
ordered the committee charged with the preparation of a 
plan of union, to report a representation of the affairs- 
of the colonies. This able paper, it is believed, was drawn 
by Franklin, for it embodies the ideas expressed by him in 
a communication made to Governor Pownall not many 
years afterward. It proposed " that the bounds of those 
colonies which extend to the South Sea, (the Pacific 
Ocean,) be contracted and limited by the Alleghany or Ap- 
palachian mountains, and that m?^:surcs be taken for set- 



1754.] IMPENDING WAR. 103 

tling, from time to time, coloaies of his Majesty's Protest- 
ant subjects westward of said mountains, in convenient 
cantons to be assigned for that purpose." But the war 
just kindling prevented, for the time, putting into execu- 
tion Franklin's grand idea of a federal and expanding 
Union. 

The convention at Albany had just closed its labors, 
when a cry for help was raised along the New England 
frontier. The Indians, incited by the French, commenced 
murderous depredations there; and those in the Ohio coun- 
try, inflamed by French emissaries, lifted the hatchet and 
lighted the brand for a war of extermination against the 
advancing English settlements. Clouds of danger were 
thickening on every hand, and yet some of the colonies 
were tardy in their preparations for the impending storm. 
Governor Shirley, of Massachusetts, put forth all his ener- 
gies and accomplished much, while in Virginia disputes 
about precedence between the regimental ofiticers and the 
captains of independent companies ran high, and in a de- 
gree paralyzed efforts for the public good ; and Governor 
Dinwiddle made matters worse by his ignorance and obsti- 
nacy. The assembly of New YoTk, awake to the perils 
that threatened, voted twenty-five thousand dollars for the 
military service, and the authorities of Maryland voted 
thirty thousand dollars for the same.* The British govern- 
ment sent over fifty thousand dollars for the use of the 
colonies, and, to allay discontents, appointed Governor 
Sharpe, of Maryland, commander-in-chief of all the pro- 
vincial troops. Yet the year 1754 closed without any ef- 
ficient preparations for a conflict with the French. 

The British government, meanwhile, had perceived that 
a very severe contest was about to be commenced between 
their colonists in America and those of the French, and re- 



104 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [^Et. 22. 

solved to extend aid to the former, notwithstanding the two 
nations were at peace. When the British ministry called the 
attcutiuu of the French com't to transactions in America, the 
latter expressed the most pacific intentions and promises for 
the future, while its actions were in direct opposition to its 
professions. The British resolved no longer to be diverted 
hy this duplicity, and at the close of 1754, sent General 
Edward Braddock, a brave but haughty and self-sufficient 
Irish officer, with two regiments, commanded by Colonels 
Halkett and Dunbar, to assume the chief command in 
America and cuc3perate with the provincials as circum- 
stances might require. He amved in the Chesapeake in 
February, 1755, and, at his request, six of the colonial 
governors met him in convention at Alexandria, in April 
following, to assist in arranging a vigorous campaign 
against the French.* 

Three separate expeditions were planned — one against 
Fort Du Quesne, at the forks of the Ohio, to be led by 
Braddock in person ; a second against fort Niagara, at the 
mouth of the Niagara river, and Fort Frontenac (now 
Kingston), at the foot of Lake Ontario, to be commanded 
by Governor Shirley ; and a third against Fort St. Fred- 
erick, at Crown Point, on Lake Champlain, under General 
William Johnson, of the Mohawk region, where he had ac- 
quired great ascendancy over the more eastern nations of 
the Iroquois confederacy. A fourth expedition had already 
been airanged by Governor Shirley, and Governor Law- 
rence, of Nova Scotia, designed to drive the French out of 
that province and all other portions of Acadie. The im- 

* Shirley, of Massachusetts; Dinwiddio, of Virginia; De Lancey, of New. 
York; Sharpe, of Maryland; Morris, of Pennsylvania; and Dobbs, of North 
Carolina. AdmirAl Koppel, commander of the British fleet that bore Brad- 
dock's thoasand men to America, was also present 



1755.] THE NEW YORK GOVERNMENT. 105 

perial government sanctioned these extensive preparations, 
and when the flowers first bloomed upon the New England 
hills, in the spring of 1755, the colonies began to glow 
with the warmest enthusiasm. 

James De Lancey, a man of great energy and large for- 
tune, was now acting governor of the province of New 
York. He had been the uncompromising political adver- 
sary of Governor Clinton for several years, and, as we have 
before observed, their quarrels interfered seriously with the 
public welfare. Clinton had become extremely unpopular. 
" Easy in his temper, but incapable of business," says a 
cotemporary, "he was always obliged to rely upon some 
favorite. In a province given to hospitality he erred by 
immuring himself in a fort, or retiring to a grotto in the 
country, where his time was spent with his bottle and a 
little trifling circle, who played billiards with his lady and 
lived upon his bounty. He was seldom abroad ; many of 
the citizens never saw him ; he did not even attend divine 
worship above three or four times during his whole admin- 
istration." '■•'■■ At length, thoroughly wearied with the de- 
fensive warfare which he was compelled to continually wage 
with his opponent, he resigned his commission and returned 
to England in the autumn of 1753. 

Clinton was succeeded by Sir Danvers Osborne, brother- 
in-law of the Earl of Halifax. He had lately been be- 
reaved of his wife, whom he passionately loved, and with 
a heavy heart he crossed the Atlantic. On his arrival he 
was received with acclamations, but he soon learned that 
the people were, in a measure, arrayed against the govern- 
ment on the subject of taxes, and that his situation as the 
representative of the crown would be a most uneasy one. 
On the 10th of October he took the oaths of office, and 

* History of New York, by William Smith. 
5* 



10b* PHILIP S C H U Y L E 11 . [^T. 22. 

with the shouts of welcome for himself he heard execra- 
tioDS of his predecessor. " I expect like treatment before 
I leave the government," he said, sorrowfully, and retired 
to his lodgings more gloomy than ever. 

Osborne had received from the city council an address, 
in which they said " We are sufficiently assured that your 
excellency will be as averse from countenancing as we from 
brooking any infringements of our inestimable liberties, 
civil and religious." This implied jealousy distressed him, 
and when, on the following day, he communicated to his 
council his instructions from the King, first to inform the 
assembly that they were required " to recede from ail en- 
croachments upon the prerogative," and then to insist upon 
their aftording permanent and indefinite support to the 
government, while all public money was to be applied by 
the governor's warrant, with the consent of the council, 
and the assembly never to be allowed to examine the ac- 
counts, he was informed that the latter would never com- 
ply. He sighed, turned about, and reclining against the 
window frame exclaimed in plaintive voice, " Then what 
have I come here for?" And to De Lancey he said, "I 
believe I shall soon leave you the government ; I find my- 
self unable to bear the government of it." He went home 
in a mood of deepest melancholy, and towards morning he 
hanged himself upon his garden- fence. Thus were the 
reigns of government left in the hands of De Lancey. 

De Lancey's position was a delicate one. He had been 
the leader of the opposition in the assembly, and he was 
now compelled to become a Janus — rebuke the assembly 
publicly for not obeying instructions in granting required 
Bupi)lies, and to confederate with them privately in mea- 
sures directly opposed to the will of the crown. The as- 
Bembly, in turn, lauded the governor for his virtues and 



1755.] PREPARATIONS FOR WAR. 107 

abilities, boasted of their attachment to the crown, and 
declared that nothing should be wanting to promote the 
King's service and render his administration easy and 
happy. At the same time they firmly resisted every move- 
ment in the way of taxation Avithout their consent, while 
De Lancey, with well dissembled zeal, joined Shirley and 
Dinwiddle, Sharpe and Morris, Braddock, Dunbar, and 
Gage, in urging the British government to put in action a 
scheme of general taxation in America by act of Parlia- 
ment. Thus urged, the imperial government resolved to 
assert its full authority in the American colonies, and to 
raise funds for American affairs by a stamp duty and a 
duty on products of the foreign West Indies. 

While jjoliticians in and out of the New York Legis- 
lature were playing disreputable games, in which the best 
interests of the commonwealth were more or less involved, 
the people at large, alarmed by the kindling war, became 
clamorous for measures that should provide defenses against 
the foe, both inland and upon the sea. These clamors be- 
came so loud and importunate that, on the advice of his 
council, De Lancey issued a proclamation on the 10th of 
January, 1755, directing the Assembly to convene on the 
4th of February following, almost six weeks earlier than 
the time to which they had adjourned. In his message he 
stated that preparations for war against the French in 
America were absolutely necessary, and that he should ex- 
pect them to make all proper provisions for putting the 
province in a suitable state of defense. He informed the 
assembly of the armament on the way under G-eneral Brad- 
dock ; urged them to strengthen the fortifications at New 
York, and to take immediate measures for erecting others 
at the northward. " Our northern frontier," he said, " de- 
mands your most serious attention. The city of Albany 



103 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [^T. 22. 

is in such a condition as draws a reproach upon us from our 
own Indians at the same time thaf it greatly discourages 
them." He urged them to take care to secure that city 
agamst the foe, for if it should be once taken, nothing, he 
thought, could prevent the enemy penetrating into New 
Jersey and Pennsylvania. He also desired them to provide 
for the building of a strong fortification higher up on the 
Hudson ; to adopt more compulsory regulations for bring- 
ing the militia into active service; and concluded by saying, 
" I flatter myself you will not risk losing your all by an 
ill-timed parsimony." 

The Assembly took prompt action, for there was great 
alarm abroad. Utterly disregarding the royal instructions, 
which prohibited the further issue of paper money by the 
colony, unless bills for the purpose were submitted to and 
approved by the crown, they authorized the emission of 
£45,000 in bills of credit, to be sunk at short intervals by 
a tax. They also subjected the militiamen to such duties 
and penalties as the executive should prescribe ; authorized 
the levy of eight hundred men and the impressment of 
artificers ; prohibited the exportation of provisions to the 
French colonies, and provided funds for arming the troops, 
and for making presents to the Indians to secure their co- 
operation. 

It was at this juncture that Shirley sent out his envoys 
to arouse the colonies to a war of extermination against the 
French, or at least to achieve the conquest of Canada. 
His envoy to New York was Thomas Pownal, who after- 
ward became governor of Massachusetts. He appeared at 
about the middle of March, and soon afterward the assem- 
bly passed Inlls for levying eight hundred men for the pro- 
posed expedition against Crown Point, under William 
Johnson. The patriotism of the young men of the colony 



1755.] SCHUYLER COMMISSIONED A CAPTAIN. 109 

•was appealed to, and then, for the first time, Philip Schuy- 
ler, who had lately attained to his majority, appeared in 
the arena of public life, under the sanction of the follow- 
ing commission : 

" To Philip Schuyler, Esquire : 

" Whereas, by an act of the Legislature of this province, passed on 
the third of May instant, provision is made for raising and subsisting 
eight complete companies of volunteers, to consist of one captain, two 
lieutenants, four sergeants, three corporals, one drummer, and eighty- 
nine private men, to be employed in building one or more forts on his 
Majesty's lands to the northvrard of Albany, in conjunction with the 
forces to be raised by the other governments ; the whole to be com- 
manded by WilHam Johnson, Esq., Major-General and Commander-in- 
Chief of the said forces. And as an inducement to officers and men to 
engage in this service, the following pay and other advantages are 
granted by the act : To every captain who shall raise such a complete 
company, to be paid on the first muster thereof, one hundred pounds. 
To each able-bodied man a bounty of thirty-two shillings and sixpence. 
a blanket, a good lapelled coat, a felt hat, one shirt, two pair of Ozna- 
burg trowsers, one pair of shoes, and one pair of stockings. To cap- 
tains eight shillings per diem, lieutenants six shillings, sergeants one 
shilhng and eightpence, corporals one shilling and sixpence, drummers 
one shilling and sixpence, and each private man one shilling and three- 
pence per day. And you being represented to me as a person able to 
raise such a company and fit to be employed in this service, I have 
therefore thought fit to authorize, and I do hereby authorize and ini- 
power you to beat up for volunteers, and to raise such a company within 
this province, whom you are to enlist according to the directions here- 
with given you, on the completion and muster whereof you shall receive 
my commission to command such company, and from thenceforth to be 
entitled to pay. And all officers, civil and military, are required to give 
you all due encouragement. And for your so doing this shall be your 
warrant. 

" Given under my hand, in the city of Nf^w York, this fifth day of 
May, 1755. " James De Lancet." 

Young Schuyler set about the business of recruiting 
immediately, and very soon the full complement of one 
hundred men responded to his call. They were chiefly 
young men, belonging to the most respectable fxmilies in 



110 PHILIP S C H i; Y L E K . [^.T. 22. 

Albany and its vicinity. Some of them became distin- 
guished militia officers in the army of the Eevolution twenty 
years later. Schuyler reported himself to General John- 
son's adjutant-general, and soon afterward received the 
following commission from actmg governor De Lancey : 

" To Philip J. Schuyler, Esquire, Greeting : 

" Whereas the several governments of the Massachusetts Bay, New 
Hamp-sliire, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and this province, have respect- 
ively raised a body of men to be employed in an expedition for erecting 
3. Strong fort or forts on his Majesty's lands near Crown Point, and for 
removing the encroachments of the French in that quarter, the said 
forces to be commanded by the Honorable William Johnson, Esq., Ma- 
jor General and Commander-in-Chief of the said expedition ; and 
reposing especial trust and confidence in the care, diligence, and circum- 
spection, as well as in the loyalty, courage, and readiness of you to do 
his Majesty good service, I have nominated, constituted and appointed, 
and do, by virtue of tlie powers and authorities to me given by his Ma- 
jesty, hereby nominate, constitute, and appoint you, the said Philip J. 
Schujder, to be Captain of the company raised by you for the service 
aforesaid, in the regiment of the province whereof William Cockcroft, 
Esq., is colonel. You are therefore to take the said company into your 
charge and care as captain, and duly to exercise both the officers and 
soldiers of that company in arms. And as they are hereby commanded 
to obey you as their captain, so are you likewise to observe and follow 
such directions, from time to time, as you shall receive from me, or any 
other your superior officer, according to the rules and discipline of war, 
in pursuance of the trust reposed in you ; and for so doing this shall be 
your commission. 

"Given under my hand and seal-at-arms, in New York, the four- 
teenth day of June, in the twenty-eighth year of his Majesty's reign, 
Anno Domini one thousand seven hundred and fifty-five. 

" James De Lancet. 

" Geo. Banyar, Secretary." 



CPIAPTER VII. 

The troops destined for the expedition against Niagara 
and Frontenac, under Governor Shirley, and against Crown 
Point, under General Johnson, were ord'?red to assemble at 
Albany, The call for volunteers and levies had been cheer- 
fully resj)onded to, and the larger portion of the number 
summoned were at Albany at the close of June. Those 
who were to be led by Shirley consisied of certain regiments 
of regulars furnished by New England, New York, and 
New Jersey, and a band of Indian auxiliaries. Those who 
were to follow Johnson consisted chiefly of militia regi- 
ments, comprising between five and six thousand men, sup- 
plied by New England and New York. 

Johnson's lieutenant was Phineas Lyman, of Connecti- 
cut, then thirty-nine years of age, who had served his pro- 
vince faithfully in a legislative capacity, and by its authority 
was commissioned a major-general. Ke reached Albany 
with his own regiment at about the middle of June. There 
he was joined by the eight New York companies, (among 
which was that of Captain Schuyler,) and three hundred 
Mohawks, under Hcndrick ; and with an energy and skill 
which, in conn)arison with Johnson, entitled him to the 
post of chief commander, he arranged the expedition. 
Johnson, meanwhile, was collecting artillery, boats, and 
military stores, but so great was the delay that the pro- 
vincials became tired of inaction and very discontented. 



112 PHILIP SCHUYLKB. [^T. 22. 

Shirley, meanwhile, had arrived, and taken up his line of 
march through the Mohawk valley for Oswego. 

To prevent the discontented troops from desertion, 
General Lyman moved up the Hudson, through its rich 
and beautiful valley, then covered with a forest, where now 
the smiles of cultivation are seen on every side. It was 
during the hot days of July, and the troops made short 
marches. They were five days in making a journey of ar 
little more than fifty miles to a point on the Hudson known 
as the " great carrying place," in allusion to the isthmus 
of twenty-five miles between that river and Lake Cham- 
plain, which connects the peninsula of New England with 
the continent, over which the dusky warriors of Canada 
sometimes carried their canoes when they penetrated the 
country of the Iroquois. There, on the bank of the river. 
General Nicholson, who commanded an expedition against 
Canada in the summer of 1711, built a rude stockade, and 
upon its site General Lyman, while waiting for General 
Johnson, employed his troops in the erection of quite a 
strong timber and earth fortification, of irregular quadran- 
gular form, with bastions at three of the angles, and the 
fourth resting upon the high bank of the river. The ram- 
parts were sixteen feet in height, and tAventy-two feet in 
thickness, and upon these the general mounted six cannon. 
One of its sides was protected by a creek, the other by the 
Hudson river ; and in front of the other two sides a deep 
fosse was excavated. On the whole it was a strong and 
well-built fortification, and, in honor of the commander, it 
was called Fort Lyman. But Johnson, who was ever 
ready to bend the supple knee to the power from which he 
might receive honors and emoluments, afterward ungener- 
ously named it Fort Edward, in honor of the Duke of 
York, grandson of the reigning sovereign, and brother of 



1755.] CONQUEST OF ACADIE. 113 

the prince wlio, a few years later, became King George the 
Thh-d. 

On the 8th of August Johnson left Albany with the ar- 
tillery and stores ; also the New York troops under Lieuten- 
ant Colonel William Cocki'oft, (Captain Schuyler's chief,) 
and a few of the Connecticut troops left behind by General 
Lyman. He reached Fort Edward on the 14th, and there, 
a week later, he held a council of war, to determine what 
route should be taken to Crown Point. It was unani- 
mously decided that by the way of the Lake of the Holy 
Sacrament, as Lake George was then called, appeared to 
them the most eligible, and that they would proceed im- 
mediately in that direction. 

While these preparations for the campaign in the north 
were in progress, Braddock was on his way toward Fort 
Du Quesne, and the eastern expedition, under General 
Winslow, had performed its mission. Winslow had sailed 
from Boston toward the close of May with three thousand 
men, and at the head of the Bay of Fundy, where he 
landed, was joined by Colonel Monckton, with three hun- 
dred British regulars from a neighboring English garrison. 
There Monckton, Winslow's superior, took the chief com- 
mand, and in June had conquered the country and placed 
the whole region under martial rule. So far good, according 
to the ethics of war, but the cruel sequel deserves, as it has 
received, universal reprobation. The English decided upon 
the total destruction of the French settlements in all Aca- 
die, and under the plea that they would be likely to aid 
their brethren in Canada, that innocent and happy people 
were seized in their homes, their churches and their fields, 
conveyed on board the British fleet, without regard to the 
sanctities of the family relations or the claims of gentle 
woman and helpless childhood, and borne away. Families 



114 PHILIP BCHUYLER. [^t. 22. 

■were thus separated for ever ; and to compel those who had 
escaped the hand of ruthless violence, and fled to the woods 
for safety, to surrender to the invader, their growing crops 
and garnered food were totally destroyed, and starvation or 
captivity were the dreadful alternatives offered to them. 
The Acadians were completely peeled. Those who were 
carried away became helpless beggars in the English colo- 
nies, to die heart-broken in strange lands. In one short 
month, their paradise, into which no Satan had ever before 
intruded, was changed to a desert of despair, and a happy, 
unoffending people, were crushed into the dust. 

Braddock, with about two thousand men, left the Po- 
tomac at Cumberland toward the middle of June, and 
made his weary way over the AUeghanies to attack Fort 
Du Quesne. His force was composed of British regulars 
and American provincials ; and young Washington had 
consented to become his aid, wdth the rank of colonel. To 
him was given the command of the provincials. Anxious 
to reach his destination before the garrison could receive 
reinforcements, Braddock made forced marches with twelve 
hundred men, leaving Colonel Dunbar, his second in com- 
mand, to follow with the remainder and the wagons. 

Braddock was a bigoted disciplinarian of the European 
school, and he spurned the advice of Colonel Washington, 
when he ventured to propose methods, dictated by exper- 
ience, to meet the Indians in their native forests. He would 
listen to no suggestions, especially from a provincial officer, 
and on the 9th of July, at about mid-day, while marching 
in fancied security, just after crossing the Monongahela, he 
fell into an ambuscade. Dusky warriors arose from the ra- 
vines and behind the huge forest trees on every side, and 
l)0urcd terrible storms of bullets and arrows upon his 
doomed army. Even then, had Braddock been willing to 



1753.] FAILURES. 115 

shape his tactics to the exigencies of the moment, his army 
might have been saved and perhaps victorious, but he ob- 
stinately persisted in maneuvering according to European 
rules, while his troops were falling around him in scores. 
For three hours a deadly conflict raged in the forest. The 
slain covered the ground. Every mounted officer but Wash- 
ington was killed or maimed, and finally the really brave 
Braddock fell mortally wounded. Washington remained 
unhurt, took the chief command, rallied the provincials, 
and gallantly covered the retreat of the regulars, who fled 
when their general fell. The enemy did not follow, and 
the remnant of the army was saved. Braddock was car- 
ried off the field, and a week afterward he died. Then, by 
torch-light. Colonel Washington read the impressive fun- 
eral service of the Anglican Church over his body, and it 
was buried beneath a road, where the Indians might not 
discover and desecrate it. The flying troops were received 
by Colonel Dunbar, and Washington, with the southern 
provincials, went back to Virginia. Thus ended in utter 
defeat an expedition to which all others of the campaign 
were secondary. 

The expedition against Niagara and Frontenac, under 
the personal guidance of General Shirley, although not so 
disastrous as that under Braddock, was equally unsuccess- 
ful. The main body of Shirley's troops were not assembled 
at Oswego, the point of general rendezvous for an attack on 
these forts, until late in August. Shirley was informed of 
Braddock's defeat while on his marcli through the upper 
Mohawk valley, and the intelligence spread consternation 
throughout the army. Many of the boatmen and sledge 
men, hired to transport provisions and stores to Oswego, 
began to desert ; and the Indians, also alarmed, showed 
signs of serious defection. Much time was consumed in 



116 PHILIP 8CHUYLER. [^T. 22. 

efforts to conciliate and reassure them, for, as on all occa- 
sions, the savages were unwilling to remain with what ap- 
peared to them the weaker party. Many bands of Indians 
fell off, and^ when, on the 21st of August, Sliirley arrived 
at Oswego, his forces was so much reduced by desertion, 
and the fidelity of the Indians was so insecure, that he 
hesitated about proceeding further. He finally moved for- 
ward, but a succession of heavy rains so damaged his mu- 
nitions of war that he abandoned the expedition, and leaving 
Colonel Mercer, with a ganison of seven hundred men, at 
Oswego, instructed to build two additional forts for the 
defense of that station, he marched the remainder of the 
army back to Albany. 

The alarming intelligence of Braddock's disaster and 
the failure of Shirley somewhat dispirited the troops under 
Johnson, and a feeling generally prevailed that the expe- 
dition against the French at Crown Point would also prove 
an utter failure. But the New England people had entered 
into this scheme for expelling the French from Lake Cham- 
plain with a great deal of earnestness, their borders being 
peculiarly exposed to incursions from the north while Crown 
Point was in possession of the enemy. For this reason 
the troops at Fort Edward, who were chiefly from the East, 
were ready to press forward. 

Leaving a sufficient garrison to hold Fort Edward, 
Johnson set out on the 26th of August, with the main 
body of the army, for the Lake of the Holy Sacrament, a dis- 
tance of about seventeen miles, and arrived at its head on 
the evening of the 28th. With the same loyalty that caused 
him to change the name of Fort Lyman to that of Fort Ed- 
ward, Johnson now called the beautiful sheet of water, upon 
whose margin he stood, Lake George, "not" he said " in 
simple honor of his majesty, but to assert his undoubted 



1755.] A WARY FOE APPROACHING. 117 

dominion here." " I found," he said, " a mere wilderness ; 
never was house or fort erected here before." He at once 
commenced a clearing for a camp of five thousand men, but, 
with strange indolence or lack of sagacity, not a spade or 
pick was employed in making intrenchments. There his 
camp lay, with the open lake on one side and the shelter- 
ing forest on the other, completely exposed to the attacks 
of a vigilant and stealthy enemy. 

Slowly wagon after wagon brought artillery, boats, and 
stores to that camp, while the soldiers spent day after day 
in utter idleness, notwithstanding Indian scouts brought 
the intelligence that a party of French and savages were 
erecting a fort at Ticonderoga, twelve miles further into 
the country of the English than the post against which 
this expedition was pressing. This intelligence startled 
Johnson, and he resolved to construct a rude fort at the 
head of the lake, and then, with part of his troops, pro- 
ceed in bateaux to its foot, march over through the forest, 
and take possession of Ticonderoga before the enemy could 
complete their works, rest there until joined by the re- 
mainder of his forces, and then attack Crown Point. 

Johnson was leisurely preparing for this movement, 
when scouts brought intelligence that the enemy in consid- 
erable numbers were pushing through the forests from 
South Bay, an expansion of the narrow part of Lake 
Champlain near Whitehall. The report was true. A force 
of almost two thousand men, consisting of French regulars, 
Canadians, and Indians, under the Baron Dieskau, an able 
and experienced general, was advancing toward the English 
settlements. He had arrived at Quebec in the spring, with 
about two thousand regulars, and intended to go up the St. 
Lawrence and Lake Ontario, capture Oswego, and hold in 
awe the whole Iroquois confederacy. Information of John- 



118 PHILIP SCHUYLER, [yEt. 22. 

sou's expedition against Crown Point caused him to change 
his i)lan, and with a part of his troops to go up Lake Cham- 
plain to assist in the defense of Fort St. Frederick. He 
waited there for the approach of Johnson until, wearied 
with inaction, he determined to press forward and meet his 
enemy. Witli the vigilance of an accomplished disciplin- 
arian, he made himself acquainted with the condition and 
movements of his opponents ; and when he arrived at South 
Bay he resolved to cut a road through the woods in the 
direction of Fort Edward, attack and capture the garrison 
there, and then, with quick movement, fall upon Johnson's 
exposed camp at the head of Lake George. This accom- 
plished, he intended to turn southward, desolate Albany 
and Schenectada, and cut off all communication with Os- 
wego. Dieskau believed his plan could be accomplished 
with comparative ease, and under this impression he moved 
forward. 

Sunday, the 7th of September, was a beautiful day. 
The sun shone in splendor upon the provincial camp that 
lay upon the rising ground at the head of Lake George ; 
and when the sermons for the day were over, the soldiers 
sauntered listlessly in the shade along the margin of the 
forest, and the Mohawk braves forgot to be vigilant under 
the influence of the feeling of security that prevailed. The 
scouts were out upon the mountains and in the ravines, but 
no alarm disturbed the quiet of the camp, and the sim 
went down that night as it had gone down many nights 
before, leaving an unwise general to sleep in fancied safety, 
without a battery or a trench for defense. 

The evening wore away and the camp-fires were burn- 
ing feebly, when, at midnight or past, scouts came in hot 
haste to the general's tent to inform him that the woods 
between South Bay and Fort Edward were swarming with 



1755.] A FATAL AMBUSH. 119 

French and Indian warriors. Johnson immediately sent 
swift couriers first to Fort Edward, and then to New Eng- 
land and to the authorities of his own province, mth infor- 
mation of his peril and a call for help. Massachusetts was 
the first to respond, by raising, in addition to her troops 
already in the field, several hundred more. But before they 
could reach the scene of danger all danger was past. 

On the morning of the 8th, General Johnson called a 
council of war, and as the enemy were seen making their 
way in the direction of Fort Edward, it was resolved to 
send a detachment of a thousand men to the relief of the 
garrison there. Colonel Ephraim Williams, of Massachu- 
setts, was chosen to command the relief corps, and he was 
joined by Hendrick and two hundred of his Mohawk war- 
riors. At nine o'clock in the morning they started in the 
direction of Fort Edward. 

Meanwhile the cowardice or extreme caution of the In- 
dians with Dieskau foiled that general. Full three hundred 
of them were discontented warriors of the Six Nations, 
who had emigrated to Canada, and the other three hundred 
were Abenakes. The Iroquois, as they approached Fort 
Edward, heard that there were cannon upon its ramparts. 
They had learned to dread that destructive engine, and re- 
fused to attack the fort. The Abenakes joined in the re- 
fusal, but all agreed to attack the unfortified camp at the 
head of the lake. Dieskau, therefore, turned his face in 
that direction. His scouts soon brought him intelligence 
of the advancing troops under Williams, and his whole 
force was placed in ambuscade, according to Indian cus- 
tom. 

Williams, unsuspicious of danger, had marched about 
three miles from the camp, when his party fell into the 
ambush, which was in crescent form. French and Indians 



120 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [^T. 22. 

rose upon them on every side, and poured deadly voUies upon 
the bewildered provincials and Mohawks. Hendrick, who 
was advanced in years and quite corpulent, was the only 
man on horseback. He had shrewdly remarked in the 
morning, when told of the number of the detachment, " If 
they are to fight, they are too few; if they are to be killed, 
they are too many." And he had objected to the proposi- 
tion of making three divisions, saying, as he put three 
sticks together, " Unite them and you can not break them; 
take them one by one, and you can break them easily." 
Johnson, guided by the oj^inion of Hendrick, ordered the 
whole detachment to march in one body. 

Hendrick fell almost at the first fire, and his braves 
turned back upon the advancing provincials. Williams 
mounted a rock for the purpose of reconnoitering, when he, 
too, fell mortally wounded. The slaughter soon became 
dreadful, and the surviving provincials and Indians, under 
the general command of Lieutenant Colonel Whiting, of 
New Haven, retreated in good order toward the camp, fre- 
quently delivering galling fires upon the pursuers. As 
they drew near the camp, their retreat was covered by a 
party of three hundred men, under Lieutenant Colonel 
Cole, sent out by General Johnson for the purpose. 

When Johnson heard the din of battle in the forest, 
and its sounds approaching nearer and nearer, he was 
aroused to a sense of real danger, and at once ordered 
breastworks of trees to be raised. At the same time some 
field pieces that had been sent from Fort Edward were 
placed in battery, and some heavy cannon and a howitzer, 
intended for use at Crown Point that were lying upon the 
shore of the lake, were dragged up the bank and placed 
upon the rude breastwork. These hasty preparations for 



1703.] THE FRENCH DEFEATED. 121 

defense were scarcely finished when the fugitives appeared 
with the enemy in hot pursuit. 

It had been Dieskau's plan to rush forward suddenly, 
and enter the camp with the flying provincials, but when 
within a short distance of the breastworks, his Indians, 
from rising ground, saw the cannon, they halted. The 
Canadians also faltered. The Baron, with his regulars, 
after brief hesitation, rushed forward to attack the center 
of the camp, where he was received with severe voUles of 
musketry. He had hoped for aid in this assault from 
the Canadians and Indians, whom he had placed on his 
flanks, but they were shy, and a bombshell from the how- 
itzer, and a heavy fire of grape shot from the larger cannon, 
under the direction of Captain Eyre, of the engineer corps 
of Brad dock's army, soon caused the two wings to flee. 
And yet, for more than four hours did Dieskau and his 
regulars, with no other weapon than the musket, sustain 
the severe conflict. Three times the baron was wounded, 
but he would not retire, and nearly all of his brave men 
perished. Resolved on death or victory, he ordered his 
servant to place his military dress near him. Faint with 
fatigue and loss of blood, he sat upon a stump in the midst 
of the leaden storm. At length the provincials, leaping 
over the breastworks, put the shattered enemy to flight. 
Dieskau remained, unable to flee ; and as a provincial 
soldier who discovered him approached, he put his hand in 
his pocket to offer him his watch as a bribe to allow him 
to escape. Believing the baron to be feeling for his pistol, 
the provincial shot him severely in the hip, and in that 
condition he was made prisoner and carried into the Amer- 
ican camp, where General Johnson also lay wounded in the 
fleshy part of his thigh, from a ball sent in the beginning 
of the action. The battle, during the whole conflict, was 



122 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [/Et. 22. 

conducted by General Lyman, and the credit of the victory 
properly belonged to that brave and energetic man. 

Hendrick's Indians wished to pursue the fugitives and 
take revenge for the loss of their leader, and Lyman strongly 
recommended pursuit. Had that course been taken, no 
doubt the whole body of the enemy might have been slain 
or made prisoners. But Johnson, with his usual indecision, 
refused permission to pursue, and the best fruits of the 
victory were lost. 

Just at evening the fugitives were met and attacked by 
a party of two hundred men, under Captain M'Ginnis, a 
mere lad, from New Hampshire. The enemy fled in dis- 
may, but the young leader w^as killed at the moment of his 
victory. The Americans lost on that day about two hun- 
dred and sixteen killed and ninety-six wounded.""' The 
loss of the French and their allies w^as much greater. The 
French major-general was killed ; also St. Pierre, to whom 
Washington carried a letter from Dinwiddle. He com- 
manded the Indians in this engagement. 

General Lyman, with much vehemence, urged General 
Johnson to push forward immediately and take possession 
of Ticonderoga and Crown Point, a matter of easy accom- 
plishment while the French were panic stricken by the dis- 
asters at Lake George. But Johnson, having none of the 
qualities of a good general, did not know how to profit by 
success. General Shirley and the authorities of New Eng- 

* The muster roll of the following companies that were in Johnson's army 
at that time, are preserved in the archives of tho State of New York : 

Capt.ins. Officera. Rank and File. 

Philip John Scliiiyler's company, Albany, 3 SO 

Edmund Matthews' " " 3 07 

Isaac Corsa's " Westchester, — 95 

Pietor Vanderburgh's " Dutchess, 3 78 

William MTtinnis's " Schenectada, 3 89 

Samuel Oimock's " Seabrook, Ct., 3 97 

John Slap's " Dunham, Ct., 3 97 

Stroet nail's " Wallingford, Ct., 3 97 



1755.] AN AMERICAN BARONET. 123 

land, and even a council of war of his own army, urged 
him to advance, but in vain. He pleaded his expectation 
of being shortly attacked by a more formidable force with 
artillery ; and he spent the whole autumn in his camp, em- 
ploying the men, under the direction of Captain Eyre, in the 
useless labor of building a fort there, to which, when com- 
pleted, he gave the name of William Henry, in honor of two 
English princes. It was an irregular quadrangle of about 
three hundred feet on each side. It was commenced in Sep- 
tember and completed by the close of November. Johnson 
then placed six hundred New York troops in the fort as a 
garrison, disbanded the New England militia, and returned 
to his home amid the barbarians of the Mohawk valley, to 
await the rewards which he was certain to receive through 
the influence of friends at court and the ungenerous maxims 
of military ethics which then prevailed. He was careful 
not to divide the honors of the event. With a meanness 
paralleled only by his own incapacity, he did not even men- 
tion, in his report to the Lords of Trade, the name of 
General Lyman, the real leader in the victory. And it was 
immediately after the battle that, with evident jealousy of 
Lyman, he sought to hide his name in oblivion by chang- 
ing the name of Fort Lyman to that of Fort Edward. 
The imperial government, elated by this, the only cheering 
event in the disastrous campaign of the year, created John- 
son a baronet and gave him twenty thousand dollars where- 
with to support the dignity of the title.''-" The honor and 
the emolument were unworthily bestowed. They were 
given to an avaricious and immoral man and unskillful gen- 

■" The appointment was thus announced in the London Gazette : 

"Whitehall, November 18, 1755. 

" The King has been pleased to grant unto William Johnson, of New- 
York, America, Esquire, and his heirs male the dignity of a baronet of Great 
Britain. 



X24 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [^T. 23 

eral, while another, pure, and noble, and brave, was suf- 
fered to go unnoticed, either by his general or by the King 
■whom he served. 

We have no record of the special part (if any) which 
Captain Schuyler and his company performed in the battle 
at Lake George. Two or three days after the engagement, 
he set out for Albany charged with special duties which 
were particularly pleasing to him. One from his general 
was to make arrangements for the reception of the French 
prisoners at Albany ; and the other was the more pleasing 
commission of his affections, to marry one to whom he had 
been for some time affianced. That marriage, as we have 
already observed, was solemnized on the 17th of Septem- 
ber, nine days after the battle. For a week the young sol- 
dier was allowed to remain with his bride in the enjoyment 
of nuptial festivities, in which, no doubt, the best elements 
of society in Albany participated. Then he repaired to 
the camp at Lake George, and remained there until the 
dismissal of the New England troopsj a few weeks later, 
when he was employed in the important service of making 
Fort Edward a safe ddpot of military stores. 

The wounded Baron Dieskau, and his aide-de-camp. 
Lieutenant Colonel Bernier, of the Royal Swedish regi- 
ment, arrived in Albany during Captain Schuyler's bridal 
festivities, and at once received his personal attentions. 
The captain was almost the only officer in Johnson's army 
who could speak French fluently, and as Dieskau could not 
speak English, they had become quite intimate at head- 
quarters before Schuyler left for Albany. The number 
of French prisoners including the Baron was twenty- 
nine. Twenty-one of them were sent to Fort Edward by 
General Johnson on the 15th, to be joined by six others there 
in a batteau voyage down the Hudson under a proper guard. 



1755.J GRATEFUL HEARTS. 125 

Dieskau and Bernier followed the next day. The latter 
was slightly wounded, the former seriously. He was car- 
ried on a litter to Fort Edward, and from thei'e to Albany 
in a batteau. 

Dieskau was a brave old Saxon, and always acted ac- 
cording to the motto on his arms " Boldness wins." He 
had been a great favorite with the celebrated Marshal Saxe, 
with whom he had long served, and by whom he was made 
the executor of that great soldier's last will. He had come 
to Canada with Vaudreuil, (lately appointed governor gen- 
eral of that province,) in the spring of 1755, as commander- 
in-chief of all the French forces in America. He had 
expected, as Burgoyne, twenty years later, boasted he 
should, to eat his Christmas dinner a conqueror in Albany. 
He was there long before Christmas, a prisoner, with wounds 
which caused his death at Surenue, in France, on the Sth 
of September, 1767. 

Like Burgoyne, Dieskau experienced the most generous 
hospitality in Albany, and at the hands of the same man — 
Philip Schuyler. Before leaving his mother and his'bride 
for the northern camp. Captain Schuyler made ample pro- 
visions for the prisoners, and especially for the Baron and 
his aide-de-camp ; and he enjoined his family to do all in 
their power, during his absence, to alleviate the sufferings of 
the brave and unfortunate old general. How well his in- 
junctions were heeded, and how gratefully the kind atten- 
tions of his family were accepted by the j)risoners, the fol- 
lowing letter, written in French, by Dieskau's aide-de-camp 
to Captain Schuyler, fully attests : 

'•' Albany, October 5, 1755. 
" I have received, sir, and dear friend, the letter which yon have done 
me the honor to write to me from your camp. It is full of politeness and 
sentiment As to the portion intended particnlarly for me, I am truly 



126 PHILIP S(7HUYLER. [^t. 22. 

sensible; and I should esteem myself infinitely happy to be able to give 
you some marks of my gratitude, and of the esteem and friendship 
which are due to you. 

" I liave read the letter to the Baron Dieskau. It has confirmed 
him in the good opinion of you which, you know, he has reason to en- 
tertain. He is still as when you left him — still suffering, and uncertain 
how his wounds will end at last. He charges me to pray you, in his 
behalf, to present his compliments to Mr. Johnson, and to assure him of 
the extent of his gratitude to him.* His greatest desire is to be able to 
write to him himself. I pray you add to the Baron's wishes my very 
humble respects. 

" One can add nothing to the politeness of Madame, your mother, 
and Madame, your wife. Every day there comes from them, to the 
Baron, fruits and other rare sweets, which are of great service to him. 
He orders me, on this subject, to express to you all that he owes to the 
attentions of these ladies. If it was permitted me to go out, I should 
alreadj- have been often to present to them his respects and mine. 

" The Baron has been much pleased to learn by your letter that Gen- 
eral Johnson esteems you, and gives you marks of his consideration and 
goodness. If lie shall have the happiness to be restored to health, and 
to see your General again, he will himself be the proclaimer of all the 
good words which should be said of you, and which in justice he owes 
you. for the trouble and care that you have had for him. 

" I pray you, my dear Captain, to say many things to Engineer Eyre 
on the part of the Baron and myself. For the good will I bear you, I 
wish you might secure his particular friendship. He is an officer of dis- 
tinction, and if you love the trade of war seek his instructions. We 
knew him long before we saw him, because of his merits and reputation, 
and the Baron, who is a connoisseui- in these things, has a great regard 
for him. To facilitate your access to him, say to him that the Baron 
prays him to extend to you the friendship he bears for himself 

" I do not know yet when, if at all, we will go to New Yoi-k ; but if 
we .ire ever there, give us news of you, I pray you ; and if you shall 
ever come there, you know beforehand how much pleasure it will give 
tlie Baron to see you, and to renew his sentiments of friendship. As 
for me, I owe too much to yours, not to seek every means to merit 
your friendship. I have tlie honor to be, my dear captain, your very 
humble and very obedient servant, " Bernier." 

" Salute, I pray you, on my part, Colonel Cole, and all those gen- 
tlemen by whom I have the honor to be known."t 

* General Jolinson lent the Baron fifty guineas when he left Lake GoorgO 
for Albany'. 

f Trauslation of autograph letter. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

Governor Shirley, the successor of Braddock as com- 
mander-in-chief of the British forces in America, was a 
splendid theorist, but knew very little about war practi- 
cally. He had pursued the profession of the law with in- 
different success, until, upon the tide of politics, he was 
borne into office, and by great self-reliance, industry, and 
assurance, he gained a commanding position in the colonies. 
At a convention of colonial governors held at New York in 
December, 1755, he submitted a plan of a campaign for 
1756, which was adopted by the convention and approved 
by the home government. It was proposed to employ ten 
thousand men in an attack upon Crown Point, six thou- 
sand in an expedition against Fort Niagara, three thousand 
against Fort Du Quesne, and two thousand to menace 
Quebec, by crossing the wilderness by way of the Kennebec 
and Chaudiere rivers, over which Arnold marched nineteen 
years later. Shirley's plan also contemplated the expulsion 
of the French from Toronto and Frontenac, on the north 
shore of Lake Ontario, and to take possession of that great 
inland sea, and cut off Montreal and Quebec from the inte- 
rior posts of Niagara, Da Quesne, Detroit, Michillimacki- 
nac, and those on the waters of the Mississippi. 

The British government had resolved to declare war 
against France, and to prosecute the campaign with vigor. 
Extensive preparations were accordingly made. Shirley, 
who had offended Lieutenant-Governor De Lancey and his 



128 PHILIP SCHUYLEP.. [^T. 23. 

friends by not inviting them to the grand council in New 
York, became a victim to their intrigues. Through their 
re23resentations the blame of Braddock's defeat^ and other 
disasters of the campaign of 1755, were laid upon the 
shoulders of Shirley, and a strong party in England, 
irritated thereby, caused him to be superseded in that 
office, 

. The successor of Shirley was the Earl of Loudoun, a 
man totally unfit for any command whatever. He was in- 
dolent and ever unready, and his conduct in the adminis- 
tration of military affliirs in America justified the compar- 
ison made by a gentlemen in conversation with Dr. Franklin, 
who said his lordship " reminded him of St. George upon 
the tavern signs — always on horseback but never gets for- 
ward." General Abercrombie was his lieutenant, who, not 
at all remarkable for skill and forethought, was neverthe- 
less a better officer than his superior. 

England did not proclaim open hostility to France un- 
til the middle of May, 175C, but her ships of war, with no 
justification but a pirate's right, founded upon might, not 
only despoiled French commerce, but in opposition to the 
righteous declaration of Frederick of Prussia, that " free 
ships make free goods" — that by the law of nations the 
property of an enemy can not be taken from on board the 
ships of a friend — forbade neutral vessels to carry mer- 
chandise belonging to her antagonist, and seized it when 
so carried. Thus, under cover of a legal representation 
made to the King in 1753, by the eminent Mun-ay, (after- 
ward Lord Mansfield,) the British government commenced 
that system of warfare upon the commerce of neutrals 
which became a chief cause of the last war for American 
independence sixty years afterward. » 

Spring had passed and summer had begun before Lou- 



1756.] INEFFICIENT CO BIM ANDERS. 129 

doiin was ready to sail for America. Abercrombie, with 
some regulars, departed toward the close of April, and ar- 
rived at New York early in June. There he lingered for 
some time and then ascended the Hudson to Albany, where 
he met Shirley and received information of the exposed con- 
dition of Oswego, and the general alarm of the country on 
account of the depredations of the Indians. There, also, was 
General Winslow, with seven thousand men, whom he had 
been commissioned by Shirley to lead against Crown Point, 
and who were anxious to press forward, for the whole fron- 
tier was menaced by the French and Indians. But instead 
of acting promptly for the publio good, Abercrombie took 
his ease ; instead of stimulating the patriotism of the 
provincials, he cast fire-brands among the troops and the 
people by asserting the right of the regular officers to com- 
mand those of the provincial army of the same rank, and 
insisting upon the propriety of quartering the soldiers 
upon the inhabitants. These assumptions caused serious 
disputes and mutual dislikes. " Go back again," said Sy- 
brant Van Schaick, the mayor of Albany, to the troops, 
when he became utterly disgusted with them ; "go back, 
for we can defend our frontiers ourselves." But Aber- 
crombie would not allow them to move backward or for- 
ward, but with at least ten thousand men, regulars and 
provincials, he lay in supineness at Albany, waiting for the 
Earl of Loudoun and casting up useless fortifications."""" 
Meanwhile an active officer had been performing signal 

*^ Fort Frederick, built in 1746, when Cornelius Schuyler was mayor of 
Albany, was in excellent condition, though quite an inefficient fortification. 
Kalm described it, in 1748, as "a great building of stone, surrounded with 
high and thick walls." A drawing of it before me shows it to have been 
quadrangular, with bastions, and apparently very strong. Its position was a 
bad one, as there were several hills westward of it that completely com- 
manded it. 

6* 



130 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [^T. 23. 

service in the interior with a handful of men. It was Col- 
onel John Bradstreet, who, ten years earlier, was lieuten- 
ant-governor of St. John's, Newfoundland. Shirley had 
perceived the great importance of keeping open a com- 
munication with Oswego, where an English gan-ison was 
maintained. For this purpose forty companies of boatmen 
were placed under the command of Bradstreet. With 
these, and about two hundred provincial troops, he pene- 
trated the country toward Oswego at the close of spring, 
suffering many hardships on the way. He went up the 
Mohawk to the site of Fort Stanwix, which he assisted in 
building two years afterward. Then he crossed a portage 
to Wood creek, and passed through Oneida Lake to the 
Oswego river. After leaving the lake he found vigilant 
enemies, for the French and Indians were hovering around 
the fort at Oswego with the intention of making it a prey. 
But Bradstreet, cautious and brave, made his way to the 
fort, and placed in it provisions and stores for five thousand 
men for six months. 

Captain Schuyler, whose industry, judgment, and faith- 
fulness in the performance of his' duties at Fort Edward 
during the preceding winter, had won for him the warmest 
esteem of Shirley, accompanied Bradstreet as commissary, 
on the strong recommendation of the commanding general ; 
and thus commenced that intimate relationship which ex- 
isted between Bradstreet and Schuyler while they both 
lived. The latter was only twenty-three years of age when 
this expedition was undertaken, but his knowledge of the 
country, obtained in his previous hunting and trading ex- 
cursions, made him a most valuable aid. He shared with 
the common soldiers and the batteau-men the perils and 
privations of the campaign ; and when, on the 3d of July, 
as Bradstreet and his party were just commencing their 



1T5G.] CHRISTIAN CHARITY DISPLAYED. 131 

march from Oswego to Albany, they were attacked by a 
party of French regulars, Canadians, and Indians, nine 
miles up the Oswego river, he displayed an intrepidity and 
humanity creditable alike to a soldier and a true man. He 
was one of eight men who, with Bradstreet at their head, 
reached a small island in the river, and drove thirty of the 
enemy from it. One of them, a French Canadian, was too 
badly wounded to tlee, and as a batteau-man was about to 
dispatch him with a tomahawk, Captain Schuyler inter- 
posed and saved his life. Just then forty of the enemy re- 
turned to the attack. Bradstreet and his party bad been 
reinforced by six men, and the French and Indians were re- 
ceived so warmly that they were compelled to flee, A few 
minutes afterward seventy of the enemy appeared upon the 
shore, and at the same time six more of Bradstreet's men 
joined him. For a while the contest was warm and the re- 
sult doubtful. The enemy poured a cross fire upon Brad- 
street, and twelve of his followers were wounded. The 
French were finally compelled to retire, for the third time, 
and did not renew the attack. 

About four hundred of the enemy were now seen ap- 
proaching the river on the north side, a mile above, Avith 
the apparent intention of crossing and surrounding the 
provincials. Bradstreet immediately quitted the island, 
and at the head of two hundred and fifty men marched up 
to confront them. 

Owing to accident, there was only one batteau at the is- 
land when Bradstreet resolved to leave it, and it was hardly 
sufficient to caiTy his party over. The wounded Canadian 
begged to be taken in, but was refused. " Then throw me 
into the river," he cried, " and not leave me here to perish 
with hunger and thirst." The heart of Captain Schuyler 
was touched by the poor fellow's appeal, and handing his 



132 PHILIP SCHUYLER. * [Mv. 23. 

weapons and coat to a companion-in-arms, he bore the 
wounded man to the water, swam with him across the deep 
channel, and placed him in the care of Dr. Kirkland with 
the approbation of Bradstreet. The man recovered ; and 
when, in 1775, Schuyler, as commander-in-chief of the 
northern army, sent a proclamation into Canada inviting 
the French inhabitants to join the patriots, that soldier 
was living near Chamblee, and gladly enlisted under the 
banner of Ethan Allen, that he might see and thank 
the preserver of his life. His wish was gratified, and he 
made himself known to Schuyler in his tent at Isle mix 
Noix. 

Captain Schuyler joined Bradstreet and his party as 
soon as his wounded prisoner was in the hands of the sur- 
geon, and he was in the severe engagement which occured 
in a swamp half an hour afterward. The enemy had crossed 
the river in considerable numbers. Bradstreet attacked 
them boldly, and drove them from their skulking places in 
the swamp to the bank of the river, leaving them the al- 
ternative of captivity or the perils of the flood. Many of 
them rushed into the river and were drowned, and others 
were slain. In this engagement the provincials lost twenty 
killed and twenty-four wounded. Of the enemy full a hun- 
dred perished by weapon and flood, and others escaped to 
the forests. " This repulse," said a letter- writer of the 
time, " will doubtless check the incursions of the French, 
shake their Indian interest, strengthen our own, and secure 
our future convoys in their passage to Oswego." 

Bradstreet was soon afterward joined by some of Shir- 
ley's grenadiers on their way to the fort, and also by two 
hundred men from the garrison. Thus reinforced he would 
have gone in quest of the main body of the French, who 
were eastward upon the shore of Tjake Ontario, but exces- 



1T56.] FALL OF OSWEGO, 133 

sive rains prevented. He made his way back to Albany 
with his command, where he arrived on the 13th of July, 
and communicated to Abercrombie the important intelli- 
gence that a French army was on its way to attack Oswego. 
But, notwithstanding the way was opened, and Colonel 
Webb, with the forty-ninth regiment, was ordered to hold 
himself in readiness to march to its defense, nothing was 
done. Abercrombie kept his ten thousand men at Albany 
until the arrival of the Earl of Loudoun, at the close of 
July. His lordship appeared to require rest after a sloop 
voyage from New York of one hundred and sixty miles, and 
he, too, loitered in Albany, until want of employment and 
close quarters in hot weather generated disease in the camp 
and caused universal dissatisfaction in the army. 

While these inefficient commanders were wastins; time 
and energy at Albany, and producing great irritation by 
giving superior command over the provincials to the regular 
officers, and treating the former with contempt, the more ac- 
tive French were accomplishing their designs. The Marquis 
de Montcalm, a field-marshal of France, and an active of- 
ficer, had succeeded Dieskau in the supreme command. 
He visited Ticonderoga in July, obtained accurate infor- 
mation of the strength of the forces and the weakness of 
the commanders at Albany, and immediately hastened to 
Montreal to collect troops for an expedition against Oswego. 
He assembled about five thousand Frenchmen, Canadians, 
and Indians at Frontenac, (now Kingston, in Upper Can- 
ada,) and with these, and thirty pieces of cannon, he crossed 
Lake Ontario, and landed witliin a few miles of Oswego 
early in August. On the 11th he appeared before Fort 
Ontario, on the east side of the river, and demanded the 
surrender of the garrison. Their commander. Colonel Mer- 
cer, refused compliance. Montcalm commenced a regular 



134 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [JEt. 23. 

scige, and at midnight of the 12th he opened his trenches. 
After a brave resistance, Mercer spiked his cannon and re- 
treated to Fort Oswego, on the opposite side of the river. 
Montcahii's guns were immediately brought to bear upon 
that old fortification. Colonel Mercer was killed, and on 
the 14th the garrison, sixteen hundred in number, surren- 
dered. Among the prisoners was Colonel Peter Schuyler, 
of New Jersey, mentioned in Philip's letter on page 69. 
He was released on parole. Forty-five of the garrison had 
been slain, and the remainder, except some officers, were 
sent down the St. Lawrence, prisoners of war. The post, 
with all its cannon, vessels of war, ammunition, and stores, 
fell into the hands of the French. The forts were demol- 
ished, and the whole country of the Six Nations was laid 
open to the incursions of the enemy, Oswego was left a 
solitude ; and Colonel Webb, who had advanced as far as 
the Oneida portage, informed of the fact, fled to Albany, 
terror giving speed to his movements. 

The sluggish blood of Loudoun was somewhat stirred by 
these events. It was caused only by the excitement of fever- 
ish alarm, however. He had troops enough to have conquered 
Canada in that single campaign, under an efficient leader, 
but they were leashed to his unreadiness and incapacity. 
After loitering at Albany a few weeks longer, recalling the 
troops on their way toward Ticonderoga, and uttering un- 
generous and wicked complaints against the provincials, 
expecting therewith to cover his own imbecility, he dis- 
missed them to their homes, and ordered the regulars into 
winter quarters. A thousand of them went to New York, 
where he opened afresh the bitter controversy of the colo- 
nists with the home government by demanding quarters for 
his troops. When Mayor Cruger, in the name of the peo- 
jile, demun-ed at the demand made for free quarters for the 



1756.] INDIANS CHASTISED. 135 

officers, Loudoun uttered a coarse oath, and said, " If you 
do not billet ray officers upon free quarters this day, I 'II 
order here all the troops in North America under my com- 
mand, and billet them myself upon the city." Loudoun 
spoke by authority, for an order in couucil, after more than 
half a century of recommendation from the Board of Trade, 
was passed in July, 1756, establishing a rule, without lim- 
itation, that troops might be kept in the colonies and 
quartered on them at pleasure, without the consent of the 
colonial Legislatures. This order, virtually establishing a 
standing array in the colonies, to be maintained, in a great 
measure, by the people, was the magnetic touch that gave 
vitality to that sentiment of resistance v.-hich soon sounded 
the tocsin of rev^olution. The authorities of New York 
yielded temporarily to Loudoun's demand, under a silent 
but most solemn protest. 

Military operations, under Loudoun's administration, 
were quite as inefficient elsewhere as in the province of 
Nev,' York. Washington was at the head of fifteen hundred 
volunteers and drafted railitia, but was made powerless by 
official interference ; and the only important achievement 
on the part of the English during the year, excepting the 
operations of Bradstreet, was the severe chastisement of 
the Delawares in Western Pennsylvania, by some provin- 
cial troops, under Colonel John Armstrong, of that pro- 
vince. The chief rendezvous of the Indians, near the 
Kittanning mountains, thirty-five miles from Fort Du 
Quesne, was assailed by Armstrong and his party, with 
whom was Captain (afterward general) Hugh Mercer of 
Virginia, on the night of the 8th of September. The lead- 
ing chief of the savages was killed, the town was destroyed, 
and the ofi'euding Delawares were completely humbled. 
Thus ended the campaign of 1756. The French gtiU held 



136 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [^t. 23. 

in possession almost all of the territory in dispute and the 
most important of their military posts. 

Captain Schuyler was so thoroughly disgusted with the 
military operations of the year that he left the service at 
the end of the campaign, and remained in private life dur- 
ing the stirring events in northern New York in 1757. 
Yet he was not an indifferent nor an idle spectator. Be- 
tween himself and Colonel Bradstreet there was a strong 
attachment, and Captain Schuyler was frequently employed 
as counselor, and sometimes as efficient actor in providing 
supplies for the army. He had also become a favorite with 
Sir William Johnson, and it is believed that the baronet 
offered him the position of a deputy superintendent of In- 
dian affairs, when, in the spring of 1757, Sir William ex- 
pected to take the field with Mohawk warriors. 

Loudon called a military council at Boston in January, 
1757. It assembled on the 19th, when his Lordship pro- 
posed to confine the operations of that year to an expedi- 
tion against Louisburg, and to a defense of the northern 
frontiers. The northern colonies, and especially those of 
New England, were disappointed. Their favorite scheme 
was the expulsion of the French from Lake Champlain, 
and, if possible, from the territory south of the St. Law- 
rence. The New England representatives in the council 
urged the importance of such a result, but in vain, Lou- 
don was imperious, and had very little respect for the opin- 
ions of any provincial. Wiser and better men than he 
acquiesced in his plans, but deplored the poverty of his 
judgment and his lack of executive force. But the general 
ardor of the colonists was not abated, and the call for 
troops was so promptly responded to, that at the opening 
of summer more than six thousand provincials were in 
arms. Much might have been done toward wiping out the 



1757.] EXPEDITION AGAINST LOUISBURQ. 137 

disgrace of the previous year, had efficient men been at tho 
head of civil aflfairs in England, and a good general con- 
trolled military operations in America. The silly Duke 
of Newcastle, who was ignorant of the fact that Cape 
Breton, on which the fortress of Louisburg was situated, 
was an island, was the prime minister of England. He read 
Loudoun's dispatches " with great attention and satisfac- 
tion," and praised his " great diligence and ability," while 
Loudoun himself was doing all in his power to disgust the 
colonists by laying an embargo upon all ships in North 
American ports, preventing the exportation of wheat, and, 
as was alleged, sharing in the enormous profits of the con- 
tractors who supplied the army and navy with flour. 

Loudoun resolved to go to Louisburg in person. He 
ordered Colonel Boquet to watch the frontiers of the Car- 
olinas ; gave General Stanwix control of the western thea- 
ter of war, with about two thousand troops ; and making 
General Webb his second in command, sent him, with six 
thousand men, to defend the frontiers of New York and 
keep the French from Forts William Henry and Edward. 

After impressing four hundred men at New York, Lou- 
doun sailed for Halifax on the 20th of June. He arrived 
at his destination ten days afterward, and found himself at 
the head of a well-appointed army of ten thousand men, 
with a fleet of sixteen ships of the line and several frigates. 
With his usual procrastination ho laid out a parade at 
Halifax, planted a vegetable garden for the use of his ar- 
mament, exercised his troops in mock battles, and thus 
consumed the precious summer months. His officers, 
among whom was Charles Lee, afterward a major-general 
in the continental army under Washington, became mor- 
tified and exasperated ; and Major General Lord Charles 
Hay expressed his contempt so loudly as to be arrested. 



138 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [^T. 22. 

He said that the commander-in-chief was "keeping the 
courage of his Majesty's soldiers at bay, and expending the 
nation's wealth in planting cabbages, when they ought to 
have been fighting the enemies of their king and country in 
reality." 

August came, and Loudoun was about to sail for Louis- 
burg, when he was informed that the French had one more 
ship than he, and a reinforcement in the garrison. This 
alarmed his lordship, and he changed the plan of the cam- 
paign and sailed for New York, to be met on the way by 
intelligence of disasters on Lake George and the failure of 
all his weak plans. 

The vigilant and active Montcalm had again carried 
away trophies of victory from the English. The French 
partisans in the field were vigilant, active, and brave. 
Marin, who in 1745 desolated Saratoga, was -upon the 
war-path with Canadians and Indians. Early in the sum- 
mer, with two hundred men, he penetrated almost to Fort 
Edward, and his savage allies carried back to Ticonderoga 
the scalps of forty provincials. Meanwhile Montcalm was 
preparing a powerful armament at Ticonderoga. Toward 
the close of July he was at the foot of Lake George with 
more than eight thousand men, (of whom almost two 
thousand were Indians,) and a train of artillery, and pro- 
ceeded to besiege Fort William Henry, at the head of the 
lake, then garrisoned by five hundred men, under Colonel 
Munro, a brave English officer, who was supported by an 
intrenched camp inclosing nearly two thousand provincial 
soldiers. 

Montcalm appeared before Fort William Henry on the 
2d of August, and planted a battery of nine cannon and 
two mortars, and then demanded a surrender. Colonel 
Munro. confident of efficient aid from Colonel Webb, then 



1755.J FALL OF FORT WILLIAM HENRY. 139 

at Fort Edward with four thousand men, and to whom he 
had sent an express on the approach of Montcahn, promptly 
refused. But that confidence in his commanding general 
was sadly misplaced. For six days Montcalm continued 
the siege, and every hour Munro expected aid from Fort 
Edward, for expresses, at great peril to the riders, were 
sent to General Webb daily. But no reinforcements were 
sent. Even Sir William Johnson, who had obtained Webb's 
reluctant consent to hasten toward Lake George, and had 
proceeded several miles with a corps of provincials and 
Putnam's Rangers, was ordered back. Nothing was sent 
to Munro but a letter filled with exaggerations and advice 
to surrender. This fell into Montcalm's hands just as he 
was about to raise the siege and retire. He then made a 
peremptory demand for a surrender, at the same time send- 
ing Webb's letter in to Munro. That brave officer still 
hesitated, notwithstanding half his cannon were useless 
and his ammunition was exhausted. But he was com- 
pelled to yield. Montcalm made honorable terms, for he 
respected a brave soldier. The English were to depart 
under an escort, on a pledge not to serve against the French 
during the next eighteen months. To insure the fulfill- 
ment of the capitulation on the part of the victors, Mont- 
calm called the Indian leaders into council and obtained 
their acquiescence. The garrison marched out on the 9th 
of August and retired to their intrenched camp, where the 
ruins of Fort George may now be seen, and the French 
took possession. That night was one of anxiety for the 
captives. From English suttlers the Indians procured li- 
quor. Intoxication followed. Their passions were inflamed, 
and in the morning, when the prisoners on parole departed 
for Fort Edward, the savages fell upon them to plunder 
and destroy. The French could not restrain them, and in 



140 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [^T. 24. 

great confusion and terror the survivors fled to Fort Ed- 
ward. The fort and all its appendages were laid in ruins, 
and for nearly a hundred years nothing marked its site but 
the remains of its intrenchments. Now an immense hotel 
occupies the ground, and thousands spend the summer 
months there in gayety, unconscious of the sanguinary as- 
sociations that cluster around the locality. 

Webb was undoubtedly a coward. When Fort Wil- 
liam Henry fell he sent his own baggage to a place of 
safety far down the Hudson, and would have retreated to 
the Highlands had not young Lord Howe, who arrived at 
Fort Edward on the 7th, persuaded him that he and his 
command were in no immediate danger. And Loudoun, 
utterly confused, proposed to encamp on Long Island, two 
hundred miles from Lake George, " for the defense of the 
continent." 

The position of affairs in America now alarmed the Eng- 
lish people. The government of the aristocracy had para- 
lyzed the energies of the whole empire, and both America 
and England were humbled by the events of the summer of 
1757. " We are undone," said Chesterfield, " at home by 
our increasing expenses ; abroad by ill-luck and incapac- 
ity." In America there was much irritation. Thoroughly 
imbued with democratic ideas, and knowing their compe- 
tency, unaided by royal troops, to assert and maintain 
their rights, they regarded the interference of the home 
government, in their quarrel with the French, as an imped- 
iment to their success. Some of the royal governors were 
rapacious, others were incompetent, and all were distin- 
guished by a haughty demeanor toward the colonists, 
highly offensive to their just dignity as freemen. They 
demanded money as a master would command the service 
of his slave ; and the arrogant assumption of superiority 



1757.] PITT PRIME MINISTER. 141 

by the English officers disgusted the provincial officers and 
troops, and often C&oled the ardor of whole regiments of 
brave Americans. 

The people of England yearned for a change in the ad- 
ministration of public afiairs, and the popular will at length 
prevailed. William Pitt, by far tiie ablest statesman Eng- 
land had yet produced, was called to the position of prime 
minister in June, 1757, after a struggle of eleven weeks, 
during which time the realm had no ministry. " Give me 
your confidence," said Pitt to the King, " and I will de- 
serve it." " Deserve my confidence," the King replied, 
" and you shall have it." 

Pitt knew that it was the voice of the people that had 
called him to the head of affairs, and for the welfare of that 
people and the realm, he wrought. Patriotism, energy, and 
good judgment marked every movement of his administra- 
tion, especially in measures for prosecuting the war in Amer- 
ica. He could not hear from Loudoun, or know what he 
was about, so he recalled him, and gave the chief command 
in America to Abercrombie. Belying upon the spontane- 
ous patriotism of the colonists, he obtained the King's 
order that every provincial officer, of no higher rank than 
colonel, should have equal command with the British, ac- 
cording to dates of commission. Instead of demanding aid 
from the colonies, he issued a letter to the several govern- 
ments, asking them to raise and clothe twenty thousand 
men. He promised, in the name of the Parliament, to 
furnish arms, tents, and provisions for them ; and also to 
reimburse the several colonies all the money they should 
expend in raising and clothing the levies. He arranged 
such an admirable militia system for home defense, that a 
large number of the troops of the domestic standing army 
could be spared for foreign service. A large naval arma- 



142 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [^T. 24 

ment, for American waters, was prepared and placed under 
the command of Admiral Boscawen ; and twelve thousand 
additional English troops were allotted for service in 
America. 

The liberal offers of the minister and the generous pre- 
parations of strength had a magical effect in the colonies. 
New England alone raised fifteen thousand men ; New 
York fui-nished about three thousand ; New Jersey one 
thousand ; Pennsylvania about three thousand, and Vir- 
ginia over two thousand. Koyal American troops, as they 
were called, organized in the Carolinas, were ordered to the 
North, and when, in May, 1758, Abercrombie took formal 
command of the army, he found fifty thousand men, regu- 
lars and provincials, at his disposal — a number greater than 
the whole male population in the French dominions in 
America at that time. 

The scheme for the campaign of 1758 was extensive. 
Shirley's plan of 1756 was revived, and its general outlines 
were adopted. Three points of assault — Lonisburg, Ticon- 
deroga, and Fort Du Quesne — were designated, and ample 
preparations were made for powerful operations against 
them. Upon Louisburg the first blow was to be struck, 
and General Jeffrey Amherst, a man of good judgment 
and discretion, was appointed to the command of a land 
force of more than twelve thousand men, destined for that 
enterprise. These were to be borne by the fleet of Admiral 
Boscawen. Abercrombie, assisted by Lord Howe, whom 
Pitt had chosen as " the soul of the enterprise," was to 
lead an army by way of Albany to attack the French on 
Lake Champlain, while General Joseph Forbes was commis- 
sioned to lead another array over the Alleghany mountains 
to capture Fort Du Quesne. 

The first of these expeditions was very successful, and 



1T58.] SURRENDER OF LOUISBURG. 143 

gave encouragement to the actors in the others. Boscawen 
arrived at Halifax with his fleet of forty armed vessels, 
and the land forces under Amherst, early in May. General 
Wolfe, a young man but thirty-one years of age, but who 
had already won imperishable laurels in the army, was 
Amherst's lieutenant. He, too, like Howe with Abercrom- 
bie, was chosen to be the active spirit of the enterprise, and 
well did he acquit himself on this occasion and aftervrard. 

The expedition left Halifax on the 28th of May, and 
on the 8th of June the troops landed, without encounter- 
ing much opposition, on the shore of Gabarus bay, near 
the city of Louisburg. Their appearance was unexpected 
to the French, who, in alarm, fled from their outposts and 
retired within the fortress. The attack upon that fortress 
and the French shipping soon commenced, and the contest, 
in various forms, continued for fifty days. The French 
made a vigorous resistance, but were finally compelled to 
yield, when nearly all the shipping in the harbor was des- 
troyed. The fort, town, and the island of Cape Breton, on 
which they stood, with the adjoining island of St. John, 
(now Prince Edward,) and their dependencies, were sur- 
rendered to the English by capitulation on the 26th of 
July. Five thousand prisoners were the immediate re- 
sults of the triumph, and the spoils consisted of a largo 
quantity of munitions of war. The English, by this vic- 
tory, became masters of the eastern coast from their own 
possessions almost to the mouth of the St. Lawrence ; and 
when Louisburg fell the French dominion in America be- 
gan to wane. From that moment its decline was contin- 
uous and rapid. 

Quebec had been included in the scheme of conquest. 
Its reduction was to follow that of Louisburg ; but when 
the victory at the latter was accomplished, the season was 



144 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [^t. 25. 

too far advanced to attempt Quebec. Indeed, disasters on 
Lake Champlain, which we shall presently consider, caused 
the reception of a message by Amherst which called him 
in that direction rather than to the more northern field of 
operations. 



CHAPTER IX. 

Captain Schuyler again appeared in public life in 
the spring of 1758, in connection with his friend, Colonel 
Bradstreet, who had been active at Albany during the pre- 
vious year as deputy quartermaster general. Lord Howe, 
whose regiment was quartered on Long Island, had spent 
much of the winter at Albany, (where Abercrombie re- 
mained,) making preparations, first for a winter attack 
upon Ticonderoga, and finally for the next summer's cam- 
paign. His was a lovely character, and he had endeared 
himself to the soldiers and the people. At the Flats he 
was " Aunt Schuyler's" frequent and most welcome visitor. 
Her husband had died of pleurisy in Februrary, 1757, but 
the hospitalities of his house were continued by his widow. 

After the death of Colonel Schuyler, Philip and his 
wife, with their infant children, spent much time at the 
Flats. The younger of the infants at the beginning of 
1758 was Elizabeth, who became the wife of the eminent 
Alexander Hamilton, and lived to the age of more than 
ninety-six years. It was there that Captain Schuyler and 
Lord Howe formed an intimate relationship as friends. 
Their mutual attachment, growing out of wise apprecia- 
tion, was very strong ; and when the former was assured 
that his noble friend was appointed Abercrombie's lieuten- 
ant, and would be the active spirit of the expedition against 
the French on Lake Champlain, he resolved to join the 



146 PHILIP SCnUYLER. [^t. 25. 

provincial army, and share the fortunes of the campaign. 
At the urgent solicitation of Colonel Bradstreet, he ac- 
cepted the office of deputy commissary with the rank of 
major. 

As early as March, when Bradstreet, warmly supported 
by the zealous Howe, proposed an expedition against Fron- 
teuac. Major Schuyler entered upon his duties, and from 
that time until the close of the campaign he was contin- 
ually in the public service. It had been determined that a 
strong force should march upon Frontenac as soon as the 
army should be established upon Lake Champlain, and to 
promote this enterprise the New York officers and soldiers 
bent their best energies. But these were continually para- 
lyzed by the indolence and absurd interferences of the com- 
mander-in-chief, and it was late in June before the army 
destined for the capture of Ticonderoga had eollectcd at 
Fort Edwai-d, the designated place of rendezvous. 

Lord Howe was a Lycurgus of the camp. He intro- 
duced stern reforms, which commended themselves to the 
common sense of his associates, but which caused the in- 
credulous shaking of the big-wigs of the elders, who made 
innovation and sacrilege convertible terms. He labored to 
conform the methods of the service to its wants in this new 
country. Laying aside pride and prejudice, he aj)plied for 
advice to those whose experience and observation entitled 
them to respect. He forbade in his own regiment all dis- 
plays of gold and scarlet in the I'uggcd marches of tlie 
army, and led the proposed new fashion himself, by wear- 
ing a plain short-skirted ammunition coat. He ordered 
the muskets to be shortened, that they might be used with 
more freedom in the forests ; and to prevent the discovery 
of his corps by the glitter of the barrels, he directed that 
portion of their weapons to be painted black. To preserve 



1758.] LOKD Howe's reforms, 147 

the legs of his men from briers and the bite of insects he 
caused them to wear buckskin or strong woolen cloth leg- 
gins, such as were used by the Indians. The innovation 
most deprecated by the young men of his corps, who took 
great pride in their long, abundant powdered hair, was his 
order for them all to have their locks cut short, that they 
might not become wet and produce maladies when the 
owners slept upon the damp ground or marched in storms. 
But Lord Howe, whose hair was fine and abundant, set the 
example in this as in other movements, and had his own 
locks cropped short. He also abolished the use of chairs, 
tables, and other things used in the tents, because it would 
be almost impossible to carry them through the wilderness 
which the army was about to penetrate ; and he set his of- 
ficers an example one day, when he had invited them to 
dine with him. They found him in his tent to welcome 
them. The ground was covered with bear skins, and there 
was a log for each of the guests to sit upon, after the man- 
ner of his lordship. -Presently his servants set a large 
dish of pork and beans in their midst, when his lordship 
took a sheath from his pocket, containing a knife and fork, 
and with them he proceeded to distribute the food. The 
guests sat in awkward surprise, for they had neither knife 
nor fork. They were soon relieved by the host jn-esenting 
each with a similar sheath and contents. To each man of 
his regiment he also furnished a quantity of powdered gin- 
ger, with orders to mix it with their water when on weary 
marches, and not to stoop down, as was customary, and 
drink from the streams. This precaution saved many lives, 
and kept off agues when these troops were in swampy 
places. 

Through the activity of Bradstreet, assisted by Major 
Schuyler, the batteaus for carrying the troops over Lake 



148 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [^t. 25. 

George were ready by the time the necessary stores ar- 
rived from England, and before the end of June Lord 
Howe led the first division of four thousand men to the 
head of the lake. Abcrcrombie arrived there with the 
remainder at the beginning of July. His entire force at 
the head of the lake then consisted of seven thousand 
regulars, nine thousand provincials, and a heavy train of 
artillery. Montcalm then occupied Ticonderoga with less 
than four thousand men. 

The provincial troops Avere chiefly from New England, 
New York, and New Jersey ; and among the former were 
Stark, of New Hampshire, and Putnam, of Connecticut, 
the former now promoted to captain, and the latter to 
major. These were men who were, afterward to fill a con- 
spicuous place in the history of their coimtry. There was 
Gage, lilvcwise, M'ho, in later years, was the executor of his 
royal master's will in oppressing the Bostonians. Five 
hundred rangers were under his command. And there 
was the bold Rogers, too, the ever brave partisan, at the 
head of four hundred others, gallant like himself, who all 
the spring had been scouting among the mountains, and 
performing deeds of daring which the world knows little 
of With a part of these he had passed over Lake George 
in five whale-boats, and in company with Captain Jacob 
(Nawnawapateonks,) and a party of Mohegan Indians had 
fully reconnoitered the French works at Ticonderoga. 

Before sunrise on the morning of the 5th of July, the 
whole armament under Abercrombie proceeded to embark 
on Lake George, in nine hundred batteaus and one hundred 
and thirty-five whale-boats. The artillery was placed upon 
rafts, and before ten o'clock the immense flotilla moved 
majestically down the lake, led b}' Lord Howe in a large 
boat, accompanied by a guard of rangers. Bradstreet was 



1758.] ARMED FLOTILLA OX LAKE GEORGE. 149 

in the boat with Lord Howe ; Schuyler remained at the 
head of the lake, to superintend the forwarding of supplies 
for the use of the army. 

Seldom has a scene more imposing than this been looked 
upon in America. The day was bright and warm, the waters 
of the lake still and clear as crystal, and around them lay 
the lofty, everlasting hills, covered with the green forest 
from their summits to the water's edge, and echoing the 
sounds of martial music, which, toward evening, fell faintly 
and mysteriously upon the ears of the French scouts in the 
direction of Ticonderoga. In that stately procession the 
regular troops occupied the centre of the ilotilla, and the 
provincials formed the wings. Over all waved the bright 
banners of the regiments ; and floating proudly from a staif 
in the barge of the commander-in-chief, was the royal flag 
of England with its union crosses. 

As the flotilla approached the narrows of the lake an 
order for silence went from boat to boat. The trumpet, 
fife, and drum were dismissed ; the oars were all muffled, 
every voice was subdued to a whisper, and as the sun went 
down in glory, and the bright stars came out in a serene 
sky, the movement of the armament was so silent that not 
a scout upon the hills appears to have observed them. 

The flotilla reached Sabbath-day Point, a low promon- 
tory on the western shore, just as the twilight was fading 
into night, and there the army landed and rested five hours. 
Lord Howe pitched his tent there, and during the evening 
he sent for Captain Stark. Reclining upon his bear skin 
bed, he talked with the Captain long and seriously respect- 
ing Ticonderoga, the French works there, the best mode 
of attack, and the probabiUties of success. They supped 
together ; and before Stark left. Lord Howe gave orders 
for the rangers to carry the bridge at the falls between 



150 Fin LIT SCIinYLER. [^T. 25. 

Lake George and the plains of Ticonderoga on the follow- 
ing day. 

Soon after midnight the army moved silently on ; Lord 
Howe, doubtless meditating upon the chances of war and 
the glory to be won, had not slept, and at early dawn, ac- 
companied by Colonel Bradstreet and Major Kogers, he 
pushed forward to within a quarter of a mile of the land- 
ing place at the foot of the lake. There he discovered a 
French picket. The whole army soon afterward appeared, 
and the first intimation that the French outposts I'cceived 
of the proximity of an enemy, was the full blaze of their 
scarlet uniforms in the morning sun. At twelve o'clock 
the landing was effected in a cove on the western side of 
the lake. 

The outlet of Lake George forms a winding, rapid river, 
less than four miles in length, and falling, in that distance, 
about one hundred and sixty feet. It connects Lake George 
with Lake Champlain, having a mountain over eight hun- 
dred feet in height on the western side of its mouth, and a 
rocky promontory, rising more than a hundred feet, on the 
eastern side. This promontory was called Ticonderoga, 
and U])on its highest point the French had built a fort, 
which they named Carillon.'-' It was substantially built 
of limestone, with which the promontory abounds, and was 
constructed with so much skill that a small garrison might 
make a respectable defense against quite a large army. On 
the extreme point of the promontory was a grenadier's bat- 
tery. Northward of the fort were marshes and wet mea- 
dows, over which it was difficult to pass, and the only solid 

* Ticontk'rojra, or Tionderoga, is a corruption of Choonderoga, an Iroquois 
word i-iguitying sounding water, in allusion to the roar of the falls in the outlet 
of Lake George. The French named their fort Carillon for the same reason, 
that word, in their language, signifying chime, jingling, noise, brawling, Boold* 
ing, racket, clatter, riot 



1768.] DEATH OF LORD HOWE. 151 

way, from tlie northwest, was over quite a narrow isthmus. 
Across this the French had placed extensive outworks. 
They had also built mills at the falls, and posted some 
troops there ; and they had stationed a picket guard at 
the foot of Lake George. 

Such was the ])osition of the belligerents on the morn- 
ing of the 6th of July, when the troops under Abercrombie 
landed and took up their line of march toward Ticonde- 
roga in four columns, leaving behind their artillery, provi- 
sions, and baggage. The Fi-ench advanced guard fled when 
the British landed, setting fire to the bridges and carrying 
alaj-m to the fort. This movement, and intelligence that 
Montcalm was in hourly expectation of a strong reinforce- 
ment under De Levi, caused Abercrombie thus to disen- 
cumber his army and press forward to an immediate attack. 
But the country was covered with such a dense forest, in 
which lay occasional morasses, that the progress of the 
British was very slow. Their guides were incompetent, 
and the moving columns, following these bewildered leaders, 
frequently encountered each other and became broken and 
confused. In this manner they had proceeded about two 
miles, and were crossing a brook within sound of the rushing 
waters of Cheonderoga, when the right center, commanded 
by Lord Howe in person, caine suddenly upon a French 
party of about three hundred men, who had lost their way 
and had been wandering in the forest for twelve hours. A 
skirmish immediately ensued. Both parties fought bravely, 
but the wearied Frenchmen were overcome. Some of them 
were killed, some were drowned in the stream, and more 
than one half of them were made prisoners. At the first 
fire Lord Howe was struck by a musket ball and expired 
immediately. His fall produced dismay in his soldiers, 



152 pniLIP SCHUYLER, [^t. 25. 

and the British columns, "broken, confused, and fatigued, 
marched back to the landing to bivouac for the night. 

Early on the morning of the 7th, Colonel Bradstrcct, 
with Rogers' rangers, advanced, rebuilt the bridges, and 
before noon took possession of the saw mills. Abercroui- 
bie then advanced to that point with the whole army, and 
sent out Clerk, his chief engineer, to reconnoiter the French 
works. He was accompanied by Captain Stark with a part 
of Rogers' rangers. All returned the same evening. Cleric 
reported the French works to be deceptive. They appeared 
strong, but were in reality very weak and unsubstantial. 
The practiced eye of Stark had a different perception, and 
he averred that the works were well finished, and that pre- 
parations for defense were ample. With his usual contempt 
for the provincials, Abercrombie paid no attention to Stark's 
opinion, and resolved to press forward to the attack the 
next morning, without waiting for his cannon. This was 
his fatal mistake. 

At daybreak of the 8th, Sir William Johnson joined 
Abercrombie with four hundred and forty Indians, and be- 
fore sunrise the British forces were moving toward the 
French works, New Jersey and Connecticut troops forming 
a rear guard. 

Through his scouts Montcalm had watched these move- 
ments. On the day that the British landed he called in all 
of his troops at outposts, and prepared for a desperate de- 
fense. His force in Fort Carillon and upon the out-works 
did not exceed three thousand men, but on the evening of 
the 7th, De Levi retunied from an intended expedition 
against the Mohawks, with four hundred followers. With 
this reinforcement Montcalm felt confident, notwithstand- 
ing he had not yet completed an important batter3^ On 
the morning of the 8th, when the drums beat to arms, he 



1758.] BRITISH DEFEATED AT TICONDEROGA. 153 

placed himself just within the trenches. With quick eye 
he discerned every movement, and with ready skill directed 
every maneuver. 

The British approached the French lines in three col- 
umns. Abercrombie kept at a safe distance in the rear. 
As tlie army approached the out- works, the French, com- 
pletely hidden in their trenches, and well defended by a 
deep ahatis, (composed of felled trees, their tops lying out- 
ward from the embankments,) opened a sudden and inces- 
sant fire from swivels and small arms. The British were 
entangled in the projecting limbs, logs, and rubbish, yet 
they pressed forward with the greatest intrepidity, while 
officers and men were swept down as with a mower's scythe. 
For four hours, in the face of a most destructive storm of 
iron and lead did they strive to cut their way, and the 
carnage was dreadful. Some did, indeed, mount the para- 
pet, and scores fell within a few feet of the trenches. 
Never was British valor more strikingly displayed than on 
that occasion, and had Abercrombie brought up his artil- 
lery, or possessed a tithe of the activity and courage of 
Montcalm, he would have secured a victory. But as the 
moments sped on, and he heard that his brave regulars were 
rapidly diminishing (for he had remained, like a coward, at 
the mills), he ordered a retreat to be sounded. The Bri- 
tish had then lost two thousand men, and in the conflict 
had become much disordered. The retreat became a flight, 
and when Abercrombie was sought for to rally them he 
could nowhere be found. He had hurried back to the 
landing place on Lake George, in " extremest fright," and 
the army, in consternation, followed. They would have 
rushed pell mell into the boats but for the alertness and 
influence of Colonel Bradstreet, who had the command of 
the flotilla. 

7* 



154 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [^T. 25. 

Meanwhile a courier had been dispatched in a whale- 
boat, with the following hun-icd letter from Abercrombie's 
aide-de-camp to Colonel Gumming, who had been left in 
charge of a detachment at the head of the lake :* 

"French Advanced Guard, July 8, 1758. 
" Colonel Gumming : 

" You are hereby directed not to send any more provincial troops 
down the lake, but stop them all there, as likewise all the stores that 
have been ordei'ed down, except as many men as is necessary to bring 
all the empty batteaus down immediately, which you are to forward 
without any loss of time. All the wounded are to be forwarded to 
Fort Edward. You will observe the above orders. Our army, who 
have behaved with the utmost intrepidity, were obliged to give way to 
batteries and the strongest intrenchments. Forward the wounded to 
New York as soon as possible.t Send this note to Captain Read. For- 
ward the heavy artillery to New York as soon as possible. Collect the 
provincial troops at Fort William Henry, as we hope to advance again 
soon. Finish all your stockaded forts immediately, and particularly the 
hospital. Keep a good watch, and defend your post to the last. You 
will soon have a large body of troops down at your post. Give all the 
assistance to the sick and wounded you can. 

" I am, dear Cumming, your most humble servant, 

'' Ja.mes Cunningham, Aide-de-camp." 

* Autograph letter. 

f Among the wounded was Captain Charles Lee, afterward the second 
major-general in the army of the Revolution. He was then distinguished for 
his recklessness, bad manners, and worse morals. On the march of the troops 
from Albany, he commanded a small detachment that encamped at the Flats, 
the re.sidenee of 'Aunt Schuyler." lie had neglected to procure the custom- 
ary warrants for impressing horses and oxen, and obtaining necessary .supplies 
for the army. Without authority he seized what he wanted, and did not 
spare even Mrs. Schuyler, the friend and benefactor of the army ; and when 
remonstrated with lie answered by coarse oatlis. Her domestics were en- 
raged, but she remained calm, and quieted their excitement. When the 
wounded at Ticonderoga were brought down, she caused her great baru to 
be converted into a hospital, and a room was furnished in her house for the 
use of a surgeon. Among the surgeon's patients was the rapacious and 111- 
inannered Lee. Mrs. Schuyler treated him with the utmost kindness, and 
never made the least hint concerning his past misconduct. Lee was charmed, 
and "ho swore," s;iys Mrs. Grant, " that he was sure there would be a place 
reserved for Madame in heaven though no other woman should be there, and 
tliat ho should wish for uothiag b&ttar than to share her final destiny." 



1758.] LORD HOWE'S DEATH LAMENTED. 155 

Two days before this courier was sent, another boat had 
passed over the lake, but upon a different errand. It con- 
veyed the body of the young Lord Howe, who fell, as we 
have seen, in tlie first encounter with the French in the 
forests at Ticonderoga. Its arrival upon the sandy beach 
at the head of the lake was the first intimation to Colonel 
Gumming and his command of the great loss the army had 
sustained. None grieved more sincerely than Major Schuy- 
ler, and he asked and received permission to convey the 
dead body of his friend to Albany for interment. It was 
carried on a rude bier to Fort Edward, and thence to Al- 
bany in a batteau. Major Schuyler caused it to be en- 
tombed in his family vault, and there it lay many years, 
when the remains were placed in a leaden coffin and depos- 
ited under the chancel of St. Peter's church, in that city. 
They rest there still. We have observed that Lord Howe, 
as an example for his soldiers, had cut his fine and abundant 
hair very short. When his remains were taken from the 
Schuyler vault for reentombment, his hair had grown to 
long, flowing locks, and was very beautiful. 

Lord Howe was not quite thirty-four years of age when 
he died. " With him," observes Mante, " the soul of the 
army seemed to expire." ••■' In England intelligence of his 
death caused a profound sensation, and there was sincere 

* "A few days after Lord Howe's departure, in the afternoou, a man was 
seen coming on horseback from the iiortli, galloping violentl)^, without his 
bat. Pidrom, as he was familiarly called, the Colonel's [Schuyler] only sur- 
viving brother, was with Aunt Schuyler, and ran instantly to inquire, well 
knowing he rode expres-s. The man galloped on, crying out that Lord Howe 
was killed. The mind of our good aunt had been so engrossed by her anxi- 
ety for the event impending, and so impressed by the merit of her favorite 
hero, that her wonted firmness sunk under the stroke, and she broke out into 
bitter lamentations. This had such an effect on her friends and domestics 
that shrieks and sobs of anguisli echoed through every part of the house."— 
Mrs. Grant's Memoirs of an American Lady. 



l,;t) PHILIP SCHUYLER. [^T. 25. 

mourning throughout the colonies. The general court of 
Massachusetts Bay, as a testimonial of their respect for his 
character, appropriated two hundrc.'d and fifty pounds ster- 
ling for the erection of a monument to his memory in 
Westminster Ahhey.* 

On the morning of the 9th, Ahercrombie's broken army 
retreated across Lake George as rapidly as possible, as the 
frightened chief could not feel safe until that little sea, 
thirty-eight miles in length, was between himself and the 
dreaded Montcalm. At the head of the lake a council of 
war was held. Colonel Bradstreet, burning with indigna- 
tion because of the defeat at Ticondcroga, and hoping 
nothing from a general who, while he calumniated his army 
as broken-spirited, exhibited none of the characteristics of 
a good general, urged the importance of attempting his 
long cherished scheme of capturing Fort Frontenac, at the 
foot of Lake Ontario. He offered to conduct the expedi- 
tion himself, and by his strong appeals he wrung from the 
council a reluctant consent. Abcrcrombie, after some hesita- 
tion, commissioned him to leaxl three thousand men against 
that fortress, and " he rather flew than marched with them," 
says a cotemporary, " through that long route from Lake 
George to Albany, and thence again up the stream of the 
Mohawk river." 

At Albany Bradstreet was joined by Major Schuyler 
and his kinsman by marriage, Dr. John Cochran, who be- 
came surgeon-general of the northern department in the 
war for independence. At the Oneida carrying-place he 

* " Lord nowe was a grandson of George tho First, his mother being the 
natural daughter of tliat monarch and his mistress, Lady Darlington.'" — 
Grahame. His father was Sir E. Scrope, second Viscount Howe, in Ireland. 
His brothers, Richard and William, were British commanders in America dur- 
ing the earlier ycara of tho war for independence. The former succeeded to 
his brother's title. 



1758.] EXPEDITION AGAINST FRONTENAC. 157 

found General Stanwix, who was about to commence the 
erection of a fort where the village of Rome now stancln. 
That officer placed under Bradstreet's command an addi- 
tional force of twenty-seven hundred men, eleven hundred 
of them New Yorkers. He was also joined there by forly 
warriors under Red Head, a renowned war-chief of th(} 
Onondagas. With this strong force, eight pieces of can- 
non, and three mortars, Bradstreet pushed forward to Os- 
wego, by way of Wood Creek, Oneida Lake, and th(.' 
Onondago or Oswego river. 

Major Schuyler, accompanied by Dr. Cochran, a corps 
of provincial soldiers, and a large number of carpenters 
and other artificers, had made much quicker marches than 
the main body of Bradstreet's army, and arrived at Oswego 
several days in advance of them. That place presented a 
picture of utter desolation. There was scarcely a vestige 
of the forts to be seen, and no memorial of the French oc- 
cupancy remained but a huge rude, cross. Schuyler imme- 
diately commenced the construction of a rude but strong 
schooner, to bear the cannon and howitzers, the powder 
and balls of the expedition over Lake Ontario, light whale- 
boats only having been transported from Albany by the 
army for their use. This schooner, incredible as it may 
seem, was completed within three weeks after the keel was 
laid. It was named The Moliawh, and did good service in 
carrying the heavy ordnance to Frontenac. 

Bradstreet and his army embarked in open boats upon 
Lake Ontario, and creeping along the southeastern shores, 
landed within a mile of Fort Frontenac on the evening of 
the 25th of August. M. de Noyan, the commander of the 
fort, was taken completely by surprise. The fortification 
was a quadrangle, strongly built, and mounted with sixty 
pieces of cannon. But the garrison was small, and a feel- 



158 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [Mr. 2b. 

ing of absolute security caused them to be ill prepared for 
defense. Couriers were immediately sent by Noyan to M. 
de Vaudreuil, at Montreal, for aid. That officer caused 
the genci^ale to be beaten, and without regard to the har- 
vest then ready for the reapers, he levied fifteen hundred 
men — soldiers, farmers, and Indians — and sent them toward 
Frontenac under Fabert, the major of the town. But 
succor was not timely. At the close of the second day 
Bradstreet opened batteries at so short a distance from the 
f )rt that almost every shot took effect. The Indian aux- 
iliaries of the French soon fled in dismay, and on the eve- 
ning of the 27th Noyan Avas compelled to surrender the 
fort and all its dependencies. Bradstreet allowed the chap- 
lain of the garrison to carry away all the sacred vessels 
belonging to the chapel ; and Noyan, who was permitted to 
go to Montreal, agreed to effect an exchange of himself for 
Colonel Peter Schuyler, of New Jersey, who had been made 
a prisoner at Oswego the year before, released on parole, 
but afterward reclaimed. 

There were only about one hundred men in the fort, 
who became prisoners of war ; but the captors found there 
forty six pieces of cannon, sixteen small mortars, together 
with a prodigious collection of military stores, provisions, 
and merchandise, intended chiefly for Fort Du Quesne and 
the interior dependencies. Nine armed vessels, carrying 
from eight to eighteen guns each, also fell into their hands. 
After destroying the fort and seven of the vessels, and such 
stores as he could not carry away, Bradstreet loaded the 
two remaining vessels with spoils, and with his whole army 
returned to Oswego. Major Schuyler had remained there, 
and joined the A-ictorious colonel in his march back to thQ 
Oneida carrying i)lace. There Bradstreet found General 
Stanwix engaged in building a fort, which he had com- 



1758.] CAPTURE OF F R N T E N A G . 159 

menced on the 23cl of August, for the security of the In- 
dian country. He lent his aid to that oflicer for a time, 
and then returned with his main army to Lake George, after 
losing five hundred men in the wilderness by sickness. 

The capture of Frontenac was a mr-ot important event 
in the history of the war, and should have secured for 
Bradstreet greater honors than he ever received. It facili- 
tated the fall of Du Quesne in the west, discouraged the 
French, and gave great joy and confidence to the English. 
The resources of Canada were almost exhausted, and there 
was a cry for peace, " no matter with what boundaries." 
" I am not discouraged," wrote Montcalm, in evident dis- 
appointment, "nor are my troops. We are resolved to find 
our graves under the ruins of the colony." 

The sagacious mind of Pitt comprehended the value of 
this conquest. He "appeared accurately informed of the 
inland geography of America," says Smith, the historian, 
whose letter to Grovernor Morris, in England, bore the first 
intelligence of the event to the British cabinet, Pitt per- 
ceived that Bradstreet had secured the dominion of Lake 
Ontario, and an easy way to the possession of Niagara and 
the country beyond, and he looked with confidence to the 
operations then in progress toward Fort Du Quesne. 

Nor was that confidence disappointed. Tlie command 
of the expedition was entrusted to General Joseph Forbes, 
and in July he had about nine thousand men at his dis- 
posal, including the Virginia troops, under Colonel Wash- 
ington, at Fort Cumberland. Forbes was taken ill at Phil- 
adelphia, and this circumstance, and his })erversity of will 
and judgment, caused most disastrous delays in the progress 
of the expedition. Contraiy to the advice of Washington 
and other provincial officers, Forbes insisted upon the con- 
Btruction of a new road over the mountains^ instead of 



160 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [^t. 25. 

following the one made by Braddock three years before. 
So slow were his movements that in September, when it 
was known that not more than eight hundred men were in 
garrison at Fort Dii Quesne, and its conquest might be 
easily accomplished, Forbes, with six thousand troops, was 
yet eastward of the Alleghanies. Major Grant, of the 
British army, a brave but injudicious officer, had been de- 
tached with eight hundred of Colonel Boquet's advanced 
corps, part regulars and part provincials, to reconnoiter the 
condition of Du Quesne and the surrounding country. 
With foolish recklessness he displayed his force near the fort, 
and invited an attack. It was accepted, and before he was 
aware of his danger he was surrounded by a large force of 
French and Indians, and furiously assailed. Three hundred 
of Grant's men were slain or wounded, and himself and nine- 
teen officers were made prisoners and carried to Canada. 

This was on tue 21st of September. Forbes still moved 
on slowly and methodically, and when the main army 
joined Boquet's advance, on the 8th of November, they 
were yet fifty miles from Fort Du Quesne. Winter was 
approaching, the troops were discontented, and at a council 
of war it was resolved to abandon the enterprise and return. 
At that moment three prisoners were brought to head- 
quarters, who assured the general that the French garrison 
at Du Quesne was extremely weak and illy supplied, for 
they had relied upon the provisions and stores which Brad- 
street had captured at Frontenac. Washington was im- 
mediately sent forward with his Virginians, and the whole 
army made preparations to follow. When the advance 
were within a day's march of the fort, Indian scouts dis- 
covered them, and their fears, magnifying the numbers of 
the Virginians, caused them to tell a most alarming tale to 
the commander at Du Quesne. The garrison was then re- 



1758.] CLOSE OF THE CAMPAIGN. 161 

duced to five hundred men, and was short of j^rovisions. 
They were seized with panic, and on the 24th of Novem- 
ber they set fire to the fort and fled down the Ohio in open 
boats, leaving eveiything behind them. Washington and 
his Virginians took possession of all that was left, on the 
following day, and raised the flag of England over the 
smoking ruins. A detachment of four hundred and fifty 
men were left to repair and gamson the fort, and the re- 
mainder of the army hastened back to winter quarters. 
The name of the post was changed to Fort Pitt, in honor 
of the great statesman at the head of public aftairs ; and 
around its site is now spread out the manufacturing city of 
^Pittsburg, with full sixty thousand inhabitants. 

With the close of this expedition ended the campaign 
of 1758. On the whole it had resulted ftivorably to Great 
Britain ; sufficiently so to encourage Pitt in making vast 
preparations for the campaign of another year. French 
pride had been effectually humbled by the loss of three of 
their most important posts — Louisburg, Frontenac, and 
Du Quesne — and the weakening of the attachment of their 
Indian allies. Many of the savage warriors had openly 
deserted the French ; and at a great council held at Easton, 
on the Delaware, in Pennsylvania, in the summer of 1758, 
six tribes had, with the Six Nations, made treaties of 
friendship or neutrality with the English. 



CHAPTER X. 

The final struggle for the mastery in the New World, 
hetween the English and the French, was now at hand. 
Four years had elapsed since the commencement of the 
contest, but only during the last campaign had success en- 
courased the Ensrlish. Now the future for the colonists 
appeared bright, and the pride and ambition of England 
were powerfully excited. Pitt, with wonderful sagacity, 
surveyed the whole scene of possible conflict, and calcu- 
lated the chances of future success. He conceived the 
magnificent scheme of conquering all Canada, and destroy- 
ing:, at one blow, the French dominion in America. That 
dominion was now confined to the region of the St. Law- 
rence, for the more distant settlements of the west and 
south were in the condition of weak colonists cut off from 
the parent country. 

Pitt had the rare fortune to possess the confidence of 
Parliament and of the colonists, and nothing that he de- 
sired was withheld. . The former was dazzled by his great- 
ness, the latter were deeply impressed with his justice. He 
had promptly reimbursed all the exj^enses incurred by the 
provincial assemblies during the campaign recently closed, 
amounting to at least a million of dollars ; and they as 
promptly seconded his scheme of conquest, which had been 
communicated to them under an oath of secresy. With 
great unanimity Parliament voted for the year sixty mil- 



1759] THE FINAL STRUGGLE. 163 

lions of dollars, and such forces, by land and sea, as had 
never before been known in England. " This is Pitt's 
doing," exclaimed Lord Chesterfield, " and it is marvelous 
in our eyes." 

The inefficient Abercrombie, who had wasted the whole 
autumn at Lake George in criminal supineness, was de- 
prived of his command, and General Jeffrey Amherst, who, 
with Wolfe, had earned laurels on the eastern shores, was 
made commander-in-chief of all the British forces in Amer- 
ica, and sinecure governor of Virginia. The general oper- 
ations were to be conducted at separate i^oints. A strong 
land and naval force, under General Wolfe, was to ascend 
the St. Lawrence and attack Quebec. Another force, under 
Amherst, was to drive the French from Lake Champlain, 
seize Montreal, and join Wolfe at Quebec ; while a third 
expedition, commanded by General Prideaux, was to at- 
tempt the capture of Fort Niagara, and then hasten down 
Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence to Montreal. A con- 
siderable fleet, under Admiral Saunders, was deputed to 
carry Wolfe up the St. Lawrence, and to cooperate with 
him in the attack on Quebec. 

The French in America, who were to oppose these for- 
midable preparations for the conquest of their remaining 
temtory, were comparatively few in number and weak in 
supplies. Montcalm was the military commander, but in 
all Canada he could not muster seven thousand men into 
the service, and only a comparatively fcvv Indians. Scarcity 
of food prevailed throughout all the French domain in 
America, for the able-bodied men had been called from 
their fields to the camp ; and on account of arrearages of 
pay and a profusion of paper money, the French soldiers 
were becoming very discontented. " Without unexpected 
good fortune or great fault in the enemy," Montcalm wrote 



164 r' II I L I P SCHUYLER. [^t. 26. 

to the minister, " Canada must be taken this campaign, or 
certainly the next." 

Amherst, on hearing of the disasters at Ticonderoga in 
the summer of 1758, had hastened to Boston from Louis- 
burg, and then across the country, with four regiments and 
a battahon, to reinforce the defeated general. He arrived 
at Lake George early in October, too late for further action 
in the field that season. He returned to New York, and in 
November received his commission as commander-in-chief. 
He immediately set about arrangements for the next cam- 
paign. When those were completed, he transferred his 
headquarters to Albany, appointed Colonel Bradstreet 
quartermaster general of the army under his immediate 
command, and then collected his forces. They were assem- 
bled at the close of May, twelve thousand strong, chiefly 
provincials, furnished by New York and New England. 

The assembly of New York entered into the scheme of 
conquest with zeal. They voted two thousand six hundred 
men for the service, and authorized the emission of half a 
million of dollars in bills of credit. Again, early in July, 
the assembly, at the request of General Amherst, agreed to 
loan the crown a large sumj to be reimbursed in the course 
of the year. 

Notwithstanding Amherst used the greatest exertions 
to enter the field early, it was July before his army moved 
northward, and it was not until the 22d of that month that 
it appeared at Ticonderoga. Meanwhile the object of the 
expedition against Niagara, under Prideaux, had been al- 
most accomj)lished. Prideaux was accompanied by Sir 
William Johnson and a few Mohawk Indians. His forces, 
who were chiefly provincials, were collected at Oswego. 
From that point he sailed for Niagara, and landed a 
short distance from the fort, without opposition, on the 



1759.] FORT NIAGARA TAKEN. 165 

17th. Prideaux immediately commenced the siege, and 
was killed on the same daj^ by the bm"sting of one of his 
own guns. The command then devolved upon Greneral 
Johnson, and he sent a flag demanding the surrender of the 
fort. The garrison, in hourly expectation of reinforce- 
ments, refused, and held out bravely for several days. On 
the 24th, about fifteen hundred French regulars, and as 
many Creek and Cherokee Indians, appeared, and were 
greeted by the garrison with a shout of welcome. Their 
joy lasted but for a moment. Johnson's troops and the 
French reinforcement had a severe engagement. The lat- 
ter were effectually routed, and on the following day, the 
25th of July, Fort Niagara and its dependencies, and the 
garrison of seven hundred men, were surrendered to John- 
son. A fortnight afterward Lieutenant Governor De Lan- 
cey wrote to the Lords of Trade, saying, " His Majesty is 
now in possession of the most important pass in all the 
Indian countries." It was even so. Fort Nias-ara was the 
connecting link of French military posts between Canada 
and Louisiana. It was effectually broken, never to be re- 
united. 

Johnson garrisoned Fort Niagara and returned to Al- 
bany, for his prisoners encumbered him, and he could not 
procure sufficient vessels to carry himself and troops to 
Montreal to cooperate with Wolfe and Amherst, according 
to the plan of the campaign. 

Amherst took the route by Lake George, over which 
Abercrombie passed the year before. He was accompanied 
by Colonel Bradstreet, Colonel Schuyler, of New Jersey, 
who had been exchanged, and Brigadier General Gage. 
Among other officers were some who became distinguished 
as the fi-iends or foes of freedom in the war for American 
independence in after years. Of these, the most noted were 



166 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [JEr. 26. 

Balfour, who commanded British troops at Charleston ; 
Loring, father of the British commissioner of prisoners in 
New York and Philadelphia ; Moncricffe, who was a major 
in the royal army ; Fresco tt, the petty tyrant, who held 
Ethan Allen a prisoner in 1775, and ruled with a rod of 
iron while commanding in Rhode Island two years later ; 
Putnam, a major general in the Continental army ; Skene, 
who was made a prisoner with Burgoyne ; Stark, the hero 
of Bennington ; Waterbury, who performed brave exploits 
on Lake Cham plain, and Wooster, the patriot-martyr, who 
was killed near Danbury. 

Major Schuyler remained at Albany, actively engaged 
in the duties of forwarding supplies for the army. So great 
was his ability in carrying on his plans, public and private, 
that he was now invested with the functions of commissary 
general. He was still an easy, good-natured young man, 
and no one would have suspected that under that exterior 
lay qualities hitherto unsuspected, even by himself, that 
were to exalt him to the position of one of the most hon- 
ored patriots of the world. They existed, nevertheless, and 
when occasion called for their exercise they jjromptly ap- 
peared. In business he was always firm and discreet. No 
one ever saw him hurried, embarrassed, or agitated ; and he 
conducted the afi'airs of his department at this time with 
the greatest prudence, judgment, and dispatch. 

General Amherst appeared l,)efore Ticonderoga on tlie 
22d of July. The French, unable to cope with their ene- 
mies, had resolved to confine their operations to the service 
of delaying the invading armies. In consequence of the 
withdrawal of troops to assist in the defense of menaced 
Quebec, the garrison at Ticonderoga at this time was very 
feeble. 

On the morning of the 23d, the French army, under 



1759.] ENGLISH ON LAKE CHAM PLAIN. 167 

Bourlamarque, withdrew from their lines into the fort, and 
three days afterward abandoned and jmrtially demolished 
it, and fled to Crown Point. General Amherst immediately 
took possession of Fort Carillon, ordered the works to be 
repaired, and placed a strong garrison there. While en- 
gaged in these repairs, he received information that the 
French had also, in dismay, abandoned Crown Point, and 
fled down the lake in their boats. This evacuation occurred 
on the first of August. Amherst immediately detached a 
body of troops to occupy the abandoned jjost, and on the 
4th proceeded to its occupation with his whole army. 

The French fled to Isle aux Noix, at the foot of the 
lake. Amherst was about to follow with a detachment of 
his army, when he was informed that the French were over 
three thousand strong, and that the lake was guarded by 
four vessels, mounted with cannon and manned by numer- 
ous pickets, under the command of M. le Bras, a skilful 
ofHcer of the French navy. Amherst immediately gave 
orders for the construction of several vessels of war, which 
he placed in charge of Captain Loring. AVhen these were 
equipped, he embarked with his whole army, chiefly in 
batteaux, near the middle of October, resolved to drive the 
enemy beyond the St. Lawrence. Heavy tempests arose 
upon the lake, and he was compelled to turn back. He aban- 
doned the enterprise, landed at Crown Point, put his army 
into winter quarters there, and proceeded to erect that 
strong and costly fort whose picturesque ruins may yet bo 
seen by voyagers upon Lake Champlain. Captain Loring, 
however, braved the storm with his little fleet, went down 
the lake, destroyed the French flotilla, and thus gained the 
complete command of Champlain, 

A more successful expedition was in progress in the 
meantime. As soon as the ice of the St. Lawrence came 



1G8 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [^Et. 26. 

floating into the Gulf in the spring of 1759, Admiral 
Saunders prepared to sail from Louisburg to Quebec with 
the British army under Wolfe. The entire armament con- 
sisted of eight thousand men in transports, under a convoy 
of twenty line-of-battle ships, and as many frigates and 
smaller armed vessels. Admiral Holmes was Saunders' 
lieutenant ; and in the army and navy engaged in this ex- 
pedition were several officers who were conspicuous in the 
war for American independence, in the royal service. 

The w^hole force was under the command of Wolfe. It 
an-ived off the Isle of Orleans, just below Quebec, on the 
26th of June, and on the following day landed there. Que- 
bec then, as now, consisted of an upper and lower town, the 
former within fortified walls on the top and declivities of a 
high rocky promontory ; the latter lay upon a naiTow beach 
at the water's edge, and was slowly creeping up the St. 
Charles river. Upon the heights of the promontory, three 
hundred feet above the water, was a level plateau called the 
Plains of Abraham. The town was strongly gairisoned, 
and at the mouth of the St. Charles, where it enters the 
St. Lawrence, at the base of the promontory, the French 
had moored several armed vessels and floating batteries. 
Along the north bank of the St. Lawrence, from the St. 
Charles to the Montmorenci river, a distance of seven miles, 
lay the French army under Montcalm, in a fortified camp. 
This army was composed chiefly of French Canadians and 
Indians. The former had been pressed into the service, 
and all agricultural operations devolved upon old men, wo- 
men, and children. Montcalm trusted more to the natural 
strength of the position in which his camp and the city lay, 
than in his troops for the successful defense of the pro- 
vince. 

Wolfe, with amazing skill and vigor, prepared for a 



1758.] QUEBEC THREATENED. 169 

sieg-e. On his left lay his fleet at anchor, and over the 
beautiful island stretched the tents of his army. All went 
on quietly until the following night, which was dark and 
tempestuous, when a fleet of fire-ships, hurried forward by 
a furious storm of wind and the ebbing tide, came blazing 
in wrath upon the English ships. The sailors of the fleet, 
with great adroitness, grappled each incendiary vessel as it 
came, and towed it free from the shipping. No harm was 
done by the fire. 

On the 30th the English, after some skirmishing, took 
possession of Point Levi, opposite Quebec, and proceeded 
to plant batteries there. These were within a mile of the 
city. From them red hot shot and blazing bombshells were 
sent upon the lower town. These set on fire full fifty 
houses in one night, and almost destroyed that part of the 
city. The citadel, higher up and strong, was beyond the 
injurious effects of this severe cannonade and bombard- 
ment. 

Wolfe was eager to gain the prize he so much coveted, 
and he resolved to attack Montcalm in his fortified camp. 
On the 10th of July he had landed a large force, under 
Generals Townshend and Murray, below the Montmorenci, 
and formed a camp there. On the last day of the month, 
General Monckton, with gi-enadiers and other troops, crossed 
from Point Levi, and landed upon the beach above Mont- 
morenci, at the foot of the great cataract, where the water, 
after passing for a mile over a rocky bed in a series of roar- 
ing rajDids, leaps into a dark chasm two hundred feet 
below. 

Murray and Townshend were ordered to force a j)assage 
across the Montmorenci above the falls, and cooperate with 
Monckton. The latter was too eager for attack to await 
their coming. He rushed up the steep bank, but was soon 



170 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [^t. 26. 

repulsed, and was compelled to take shelter behind a block- 
house on the beach just as a heavy thunder storm, which 
had been gathering for several hours, burst upon the com- 
batants. Darkness fell before the storm ceased, when its 
voices were rivalled by the roar of the rising tide, which 
warned Monckton and his men to take to their boats. 
More than four hundred of the English had perished before 
this hasty embarkation. In general orders the next day, 
Wolfe, while he uttered severe censure for rashness, praised 
Monckton's regiment as one able to cope with the whole 
Canadian army. 

Several weeks had now passed since the English landed 
upon the Isle of Orleans, and yet nothing of importance 
had been accomplished. Wolfe was becoming very impa- 
tient. Day after day he expected Amherst with reinforce- 
ments. They came not. He could not even hear from 
Amherst. He was informed of the fall of Niagara, the 
flight of the French from Ticonderoga and Crown Point, 
but still no aid came for him. Every hour difficulties more 
and more appalling were gathering around Wolfe. At 
length, early in September, exposure, fatigue, and anxiety 
had wasted his strength and produced a violent fever. 
Prostrate in his tent he called a council of war, and while 
his brow and hand were hot with disease, he laid before his 
officers three desperate plans of attack upon the vigilant 
enemy. They dissented from all, and at the suggestion of 
Townshend it was resolved to scale the heights of Abra- 
ham and draw the French out into open battle. Wolfe 
acquiesced, though with faint hopes of success. A plan was 
speedily matm-ed, and, feeble as he was, the commander- 
in-chief resolved to lead the assault in person. Ho consid- 
ered the enterprise a most hazardous one, and he wrote to 
Pitt, saying, " In this situation there is such a choice of 



1759.] THE FRENCH DECEIVED. 171 

difficulties that I am at a loss myself how to determine. 
The aftairs of Great Britain require most vigorous mea- 
sures, but then the courage of a handful of brave men 
should be exerted only where there is some hope." These 
words gave England unpleasant emotions. 

On the 8th of September the camp at the Montmorenci 
was broken up, and the attention of Montcalm was diverted 
from the real designs of the English by seeming prepara- 
tions to attack his lines. Already, having secured the posts 
on Orleans, Wolfe had marched the portion of the army at 
Point Levi, up the river, and embarked them on transports 
Avhich had passed the town in the night for that purpose. 
Bougainville, who had been sent by Montcalm to watch the 
movements of the English and prevent a landing, was com- 
pletely deceived; and when, in several vessels of the fleet, the 
whole army ajipeared to be retreating up the river, there 
was great joy in Quebec and in the French camp. De 
Levi was sent with three thousand men to defend Mon- 
ti-eal, and the Canadians felt confident that the lateness of 
the season would compel the British fleet to leave the river 
soon. 

It was the pleasant evening of the 12th of September 
when the whole army destined for the assault moved sev- 
eral miles up the river, above the intended landing place. 
Leaving their ships at midnight, they embarked in flat- 
boats, and with muffled but unused oars, moved silently 
down at the speed of the current, followed by the ships 
soon afterward. Black clouds were then gathering in the 
sky, and before the flotilla reached its destination the night 
was intensely dark. 

Wolfe was in good spirits, and yet there was evidently 
in his mind a presentiment of his speedy death. At his 
evening mess, before leaving the vessel, he composed and 



172 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [JEt. 26. 

sang impromptu that little campaigning song, which has 
been chanted in many a British tent since, commencing — 

" Why, soldiers, why 
Should wc be melancholy, boys? 

"Why, soldiers, why, 
Whose busiuess 'tis to die!" 

And as he sat among his officers, and floated softly down 
the river in the gloom, a shadow seemed to rest upon his 
heart, and he repeated in low, musing tones, that touching 
stanza of Gray's Elegy in a Country Churchyard — 

" The boast of heraldry, the pomp of power, 

And all that beauty, all that wealth e'er gave, 
Await alike the inevitable hour — 

The path of glory leads but to the grave." 

At the close he whispered " Now, gentlemen, I would 
prefer being the author of that poem to the glory of beat- 
ing the French to-morrow," 

At dawn, on the 13th of September, almost five thou- 
sand British troops were drawn up in battle array on the 
Plains of Abraham, three hundred feet above the St. Law- 
rence. They had landed cautiously in a cove, which still 
bears the name of Wolfe, and were led up a ravine and 
steep acclivity by the commander-in-chief, who was at the 
head of the main division, followed by Colonel Howe with 
light infantry and a corps of gallant Highlanders. This 
was a strange apparition to the French. The sergeant's 
guard at the brow of the acclivity were instantly disjiersed, 
and in hot haste communicated the startling intelligence, 
first to the garrison in Quebec, and then to Montcalm, at 
Beauport. That commander was incredulous. "It can 
be but a small party come to burn a few houses and re- 
turn," he said ; yet, ever vigilant, he did not wait for con- 
firmation. He was speedily undeceived. He soon saw the 



1759] DEATH OF WOLFE. 173 

imminent danger to which the town and garrison were ex- 
posed, and he immediately abandoned his intrenelunonts 
and led the greater part of liis army across the St. Charles 
to confront the invaders. Messengers were dispatched to 
to call back De Bougainville and De Levi, and at ten o'clock 
Montcalm had his army in battle order on the higher part 
of the plains of Abraham, near the town. 

Both parties were deficient in heavy guns. The French 
had three field pieces, the English only one, and that was 
a light six-pounder which some sailors had dragged up the 
ravine. The two commanders, in the order of battle, faced 
each other. Wolfe was on the right, at the head of the 
grenadiers who were repulsed at the Montmorenci. They 
burned with a desire to wipe out the stain of that event. 
Montcalm was on the left, at the head of three of his best 
regiments. Wolfe ordered his men to put two bullets into 
each of their muskets, and reserve their fire until the ene- 
my should be witliin forty yards of them. They obeyed. 
Their double-shotted guns did terrible execution. The 
French were thrown into utter confusion, and were then 
attacked by the terrible English bayonet. 

Wolfe was urging on his battalions in this bayonet 
charge when he was slightly wounded. He staunched the 
blood with a handkerchief, and whilst cheering on his men 
received a more severe bullet wound in the groin. A few 
minutes afterward a third bullet struck him in the breast, 
and he fell mortally wounded. It was at this moment that 
victory for the English was secured by the confused rout of 
the French. As Wolfe was being carried to the rear, an offi- 
cer on whose shoulder he was leaning exclaimed, "They 
run ! they run I" The dim eyes of the ex})iring hero 
lighted up, and he asked " Who runs ?" " The enemy, 
sir ; they give way everywhere/' said the officer. Wolfe 



174 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [Mr. 26. 

gave an important command for a movement to cut off the 
fugitives, and then feebly exclaimed, " Now, God be praised, 
I die happy !" These were his last words. He soon after- 
ward expired. 

Montcalm was also mortally wounded. " Death is cer- 
tain," said his surgeon. "I am glad of it," replied Mont- 
calm. " How long have I to live ?" he inquired. " Ten or 
twelve hours — perhaps less," was the reply. " So much 
the better ; I shall not live to see the surrender of Quebec!" 
the dying general said. That night he " spent with God," 
and ex])ired in the morning. His remains were buried in 
the grounds of the Ursuline convent at Quebec. Wolfe's 
were conveyed to England and laid in his family vault, and 
his government erected a monument to his memory in 
Westminster Abbey. Massachusetts, grateful for his ser- 
vices, decreed a marble statue of him. Almost seventy 
years afterward, an English governor of Canada caused a 
noble obelisk of granite to be erected in the city of Quebec 

" To THE MEMORY OF AVoLFE AND MoNTCALM." 

General Townshend succeeded Wolfe in the command 
of the army. The French had left five hundred of their 
comrades dead on the field when they fled. Townshend 
took possession of their position, and commenced the erec- 
tion of batteries to storm the city. Some of the French 
officers desired to renew the conflict and hold out to the 
last ; but the inhabitants within the walls would not sub- 
mit to such total destruction of life and property as would 
result from a siege. A capitulation was agreed upon, and 
five days afterward the city of Quebec was suiTcndered to 
the English, and the remains of Montcalm's army, under 
De Levi, fled to Montreal. General Murray was left to 
defend the half demolished city, and the British fleet, fear- 



1760.] ATTEMPTED RECOVERY OF QUEEEO. 175 

ing frost and ice, left the. St. Lawrence, carrying away 
about a thousand prisoners. 

Thus brilliantly, for the English, ended the campaign 
of 1759. Intelligence of the repulse of the -grenadiers at 
the Montmorcnci reached England on the 16th of October, 
and added to the gloom occasioned by Vv^olfe's desponding 
letter to Pitt. On the evening of the same day a vessel 
arrived with news of the victory on the Plains of Abra- 
ham, and the King set apart a day for public thanksgiving. 
" The incidents of dramatic fiction could not be conducted 
with more address," wrote Horace Walpole, " to lead an 
audience from despondency to sudden exultation, than ac- 
cident prepared to excite the passions of a whole people. 
They despaired, they triumphed, and they wept, for Wolfe 
had fallen in the hour of victory." But the conquest of 
Canada was not yet completed. 

When the ice left the St. Lawrence in the spring of 
1760, De Levi, at the command of Vaudreuil, the governor 
general of Canada, proceeded with ten thousand men, com- 
l)0sed of French regulars, Canadians, and Indians, to at- 
tempt the recovery of Quebec. Admiral Saunders had left 
abundant provisions and much heavy artillery there, and 
Murray, when the fleet departed, had seven thousand men 
under his command for the defense of the city. These were 
reduced one half by disease during the winter. De Levi 
apjiroached on the 27th of April, and on the 28 th the brave 
but weak Murray went out with his whole force, less than 
three thousand, to attack him. The English were defeated, 
lost all their artillery, and came near being cut off in their 
retreat to the town. In this engagement they lost a thou- 
sand men. 

De Levi followed up his success vigorously. He com- 
menced a siege, encamped a large force on the heights of 



176 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [JEt. 27. 

Point Levi, and brought six French frigates up to assist in 
belean-uring the city by land and water. Meanwhile Pitt 
had sent a fleet, under Lord Oolville, to cooperate in de- 
fense of the city. Colville approached with two ships of 
the line, destroyed tlie French vessels in the presence of 
De Levi, and spread great alarm iu tlie French army. Be- 
lieving these vessels to be only the van of a large squadron^ 
he raised the siege at the middle of I^'aj and retreated pre- 
cipitately to Montreal, leaving behind him most of his 
artillery and stores. Murray started in pursuit of the fugi- 
tives, bat their-flight was so rapid that he could not over- 
take them. 

Montreal was the last remaining stronghold of the 
French, and Amherst might easily have had possession of 
all Canada before De Levi besieged Quebec. But he pre- 
ferred to follow the systematic and tardy plan which he had 
formed for the reduction of the province, to a quick and 
energetic expedition. So he spent the whole summer in 
making great jireparations for the invasion. Vaudreuil, 
meanwhile, gathered all the moral and material power, 
at his command at Montreal, for the final struggle, 

Amherst's movements, though slow, were effectual. At 
the head of almost ten thousand men, and a thousand In- 
dian warriors, under Sir William Johnson, he proceeded to 
Oswego, thence over Lake Ontario and down the St. Law- 
rence. At the mouth of the Oswegatchic river (now Og- 
densburgh) he took possession of a French fort with a 
feeble garrison, and moving on, appeared before Montreal 
on the sixth of September. On the same day Murray ar- 
rived from Quebec with four thousand troops ; and on the 
next Colonel Haviland, who had marched from Crown 
Point, appeared with three thousand more. Haviland had 
taken possession of Isle aux Noix on the way. Vaudreuil 



1760.] P O N T I A C . 177 

perceived the folly of attempting resistance against such a 
crushing force, and on the 8th he signed a capituLation 
surrendering into the hands of the English, Montreal 
and all Canada, which was then defined as a region cover- 
ing not only the present provinces of that name, but part 
of the country south and west of the more westerly of 
the great lakes. General Gage was appointed governor 
of Montreal, and General Murray went down the St. 
Lawrence with four or five thousand men to garrison 
Quebec. 

The French still held the post of Detroit, on the con- 
necting waters between Lakes Erie and St. Clair ; and 
Amherst, feeling that the conquest of Canada was not ab- 
solutely complete while the lilies of France waved over any 
garrison in the province, however insignificant, sent Major 
Kogers, five days after the capitulation, with two hundred 
of his rangers, to plant the English flag in the far interior. 
At ruined Frontenac the party were well treated by the 
Indians. Creeping along the north shore of Lake Ontario, 
they made their way slowly to Niagara, and there furnished 
themselves with proper costume for the wilderness. In the 
chilly month of October they went over Lake Erie in 
open boats to its southern shore, and with cattle furnished 
by Colonel Boquet, proceeded by laud to Detroit in the 
midst of savage tribes. At the mouth of a river, accord- 
ing to Eogers' journal, whose locality can not now well 
be defined, they were met by a deputation of Indian chiefs 
residing upon the great peninsula of Michigan. They 
informed Rogers that he was within the domain of Pon- 
tiac, the famous Ottawa emperor, and advised him to 
wait- for his coming. That haughty prince, when he 
came, demanded to know how he dared to enter his 
country without his leave. Rogers explained that he 



178 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [JEt. 27. 

came not as the enemy of the Indians, but to remove 
the French ; and after some hesitation the Partisan and 
his rangers were suifered to pass on to take possession 
of Detroit. This was accomplished at the close of No- 
vember, 1760. "'•'■■ 

* " I landed lialf a mile from the fort," says Rogers in his journal "and 
drew up my party in front of it in a field of grass. Here Captain Campbell 
joined us with a French officer bearing Captain Deleter's compliments, and 
informing me that the garrison was at my command. Lieutenants McCormick 
and Leslie, with thirty-six Royal Americans, immediately took possession of 
the fort. The troops of the garrison piled their arms, the French colors were 
taken down, and the English flag hoisted in their place. Upon this, about 
seven hundred Indians, who were looking on at a distance, gave a shout, ex- 
ulting in their predictiou being verified, that the crow represented the Eng- 
lish instead of the French." 



CHAPTER XI. 

Colonel Bradstreet, still holding the office of quar- 
termaster general under Amherst, followed his commander 
to Oswego early in July. He had suffered much from the 
sickness that so severely smote his camp the year before, 
and feeling still feeble when the present campaign was 
opened, he thought it prudent to commit his private af- 
fairs to the hands of some friend in whom he could con- 
fide. For this important ti'ust he chose Philip Schuyler, 
and he addressed to him the following letter : 

" Albany, July 6, 1760. 
" Dear Sir : As all my private ^affairs are in my leather portmanteau 
trunk, I hereby commit it to your care and protection, to the end that 
it may be delivered safe to my wife and children, now at Boston, in case 
of my decease this campaign, and by your own hand, in which you will 
ever oblige your faithful friend, 

"John Bradstreet." 

Colonel Bradstreet appears, on further reflection, to 
have considered Mr. Schuyler the most trustworthy of all 
his friends with whom, in the event of his death, he might 
leave the settlement of his public accounts, and on the 
succeeding day he addressed the following letter to him : 

" Your zeal, punctuality, and strict honesty in his Majesty's service, 
under my direction, for several years past, are sufficient proofs that I 
can't leave my public accounts and papers in a more faithful hand than 
in yours to be settled, should any accident happen me this campaign ; 
wherefore, that I may provide against it. and that a faithful account 



180 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [^T. 28. 

may be rendered to the public of all the public money which I have re- 
ceived Pincc the war, I now deliver you all my public accounts and 
vouchers, and do hereby empower you to settle them with whomsoever 
may be appointed for that purpose, either in America or England. And 
for your care and trouble therein, as well as for your faithful and useful 
services to the public, I am persuadeil, on your producing this paper, 
you will be properly rewarded, if settled in America, by the com- 
mander-in-chief, if in England, by the administration. The accounts 
are clear, and vouchers distinct and complete up to this time, except 
trifles. I am, sir, your faithful, humble servant, 

"John Bradstreet." 

Too feeble in lioaltli to accomi)any Amlicrst's expedi- 
tion down the St. Lawrence, Bradstreet remained at Os- 
wejro in the exercise of his official duties, and at the end of 
the campaign was joined at Albany by his family, who 
came from Boston. The intercolonial Avar had now ceased, 
though the French and British continued hostilities upon 
the ocean, and the Indian tribes on the western and south- 
ern frontiers of the English colonies, having tasted blood, 
made frequent havoc of life and property among the set- 
tlers. The provincial forces, except those that appeared 
necessary to repel these savn^e inroads, were disbanded, 
and all industrial pursuits were resumed. 

As quartermaster general, Colonel Bradstreet had many 
accounts to settle with the home government at the close 
of 1760. He preferred to go to the source of authority for 
the purpose rather than transact his business with agents 
in America. His feeble health and the cares of a family 
made it difficult for liira to cross the Atlantic, and again he 
turned to his young friend, Philip Schuyler, as his most 
trustworthy agent. 

At Bradstreet's solicitation, Mr. Schuyler went to Eng- 
land early in 1761. In return for the confidence which 
that officer had reposed in him, Mr. Schuyler, by a power 
of attorney, constituted his " good friend. Colonel John 



1761 J VOYAGE TO ENGLAND. 181 

Bradstreet," his agent for the management and disposition 
of liis property during his absence or in the event of his 
death. They had pm-chased broad acres of land together 
ill the Mohawk valley, near the present city of Utica, ;iii(l 
I'ae business of each v/as well known to the other. The 
power of attorney was executed on the 16th day of Febru- 
ary, 17G1, in the city of New York, whither Mr. Schuyler 
had gone for the purpose of embarkiition for England. 

The precise date of his departure is not on record, and 
the name of the vessel can only be conjectured from a 
vague letter of the captain of a French privateer, to which 
reference will be made presently. That name was The Gen- 
eral Wall, and was a packet. As soon as Schuyler went 
on board he became interested in the management of the 
vessel, especially in the mathematical features of the navi- 
gator's art, and he applied himself diligently to its study. 
That application was timely and fortunate, for the captain 
soon died, and the passengers and crew, with common con- 
sent, made Mr. Schuyler the commander. 

Gn the voyage they met a dismantled slaver in great 
distress. She had been driven about upon the ocean for 
several days in a severe storm. Her water and provisions 
were exhausted. Schuyler transferred the crew to his 
own vessel, and ordered the hatches of the slaver to be 
opened, to give the two hundred negroes a chance for their 
lives. A few days afterward he met a vessel laden with 
horses, bound for the West Indies, and he requested the 
captain to seek the slaver and feed the miserable starve- 
lings on horse-flesh. 

Not long after this, Schuyler's vessel was captured by 
the French privateer La Biscayen, of Bayonne, com- 
manded by M. Lafargue, who placed his lieutenant on 
board the prize. The latter officer appears to have made 



182 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [.^.T. 28. 

immediate arrangements for the ransom of his prisoners, de- 
manding from Schuyler fifty pounds sterling as his share 
of the ransom money. But the Frenchmen's prize was 
soon lost, for the captors and the captives were seized by 
an English frigate, and conveyed to London. 

On the 13tli of April Lafargue addressed a polite letter 
to Schuyler. After first disclaiming all collusion with his 
brother officer in making the extortionate demand for his 
ransom, he reminded Schuyler of the good treatment he 
had received at the hands of the Avriter while he was a 
prisoner; and then, coming to the main object of his letter, 
he im])lored him to use his influence in procuring the re- 
lease of his two brotliers, who were officers of another 
privateer of Bayonne, commanded by Lafargue's brother- 
in-law, that had been captured by an English frigate.* 

Intelligence of Schuyler's escape reached his friends 
at the middle of May, and gave them great joy, for the 
ocean was swarming with privateers. William Smith, the 
historian, his warm personal friend, wrote to him from 
New York on the loth of May, saying : 

" The packet arrived last night, and another sails suddenly in the 
morning, so that I liave only time for a word. I congratulate you most 
heartily on your escape and arrival, and extreme good fortune in saving 
your papers. Colonel De Lanceyf ft)rAvarded your letters to Mrs. Schuy- 
ler and Colonel Bradstreet by express before I got mine from the post 
oflSce. I shall write to her by the first post. 

" We are surprised by the late changes among the principal officers. 
What is Lord Stirling about ? I am sorry to find him unnoticed in the 
American preferments. Pray let us know every thing on your side that 
concerns us. What sort of folks have the plantation affairs in their 
hands." 

Much uneasiness was then felt in the colonies in respect 

* Autograph letter. 

f Oliver De Lancey, brother of James De Lancey, and commander of a 
corps of loyalists in the war for independence. 



1761 .] L R D S T I R L I N G . 183 

to the future. George the Second hjul died in the autumn 
of 1760, and his grandson had ascended the throne, at the 
age of less than twenty years, as George the Third. His 
mother appears to have been quite enamored of the Earl 
of Bute, a gay but poor and unprincipled Scotch adven- 
turer, who had been the prince's tutor, and had great in- 
fluence over the young king. The eminent Pitt was actu- 
ally treated with indifference, and the caanges to which the 
writer of the foregoing letter alluded v/as the retirement of 
that great statesman from the head of the imperial cabinet, 
and his place substantially supplied bv the shallow Bute. 
From that hour the rapid alienation of the colonies from 
the crown began. 

William Alexander (Lord Stirling) was yet in England, 
whither he went with Governor Shirley in 1756, and by the 
advice of friends had taken measures to obtain from g-ov- 
ernment a recognition of his title of E'lrl of Stirling, de- 
rived from his father, Avho had been attainted because of 
his participation in the rebellion of 1716, when the son of 
James the Second made an attempt to obtain the sover- 
eignty of England. Alexander failed in securing the legal 
recognition of his title, but his right to it was so generally 
conceded that he was ever afterward addressed as Lord 
Stirling. He and Schuyler had become warm personal 
friends when the former was at Albany in 1756, as Shir- 
ley's military secretary, and now they again met as friends 
in England. They returned to America in the same vessel, 
and in the struggle for freedom which soon afterward com- 
menced in the colonies they were compatriots and fellow 
soldiers. 

Mr. Schuyler laid the accounts with which he had been 
entrusted, and which he had arranged in perfect order for 
Colonel Bradstreet, before the proper committee of Parlia- 



184 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [^T. 28 

ment, and he was highly complimented for their accuracy 
and neatness. " There was then but one man in England 
who could compute faster than himself "■"••" Having com- 
pleted his business, visited some of the principal j)laces 
iu England, and made the acquaintance of several lead- 
ing men there, Mr. Schuyler returned home toward the 
close of summer, to find public feeling deeply stirred by 
causes which speedily brought about an open rupture be- 
tween the colonies and the parent country. 

For a hundred years the colonists had been subjected to 
oppressive commercial restrictions, the first oppressive navi- 
gation act bearing the date of 1660, the year when Charles 
the Second ascended the throne. In the weakness of their in- 
fancy the colonists had been compelled to submit to those 
restrictions, though often with a bad grace. But as they 
increased in numbers, and circumstances taught them to 
perceive their rapidly augmenting strength, they felt their 
manhood stirring too strongly within them to submit any 
longer without uttering a protest. Their industry and 
commerce were becoming too productive and expansive to 
be confined within the narrow limits of those restrictions 
which the Board of Trade had from time to time imposed, 
and they determined henceforth to regard them as mere 
ropes of sand. They resolved no longer to submit to laws 
which declared that all manufactories of iron and steel in 
the colonics should be considered "a common nuisance," to 
be abated within thirty days after notice being given, or 
the owner should be subjected to a fine of one thousand 
dollars ; that prohibited the " erection or contrivance of 
any mill or other engine for slitting or rolling iron, or 
any plating forge to work with a tilt-hammer, or any fur- 

* Statement of Mrs. Cathariao Van Rennselaer Cochran, General Schuy- 
ler's youngest and last surviving child. 



1760.J POSITION OF THE COLONIES, 185 

nace for making steel in the colonies ;" that forbade the 
.exportation of hats from one colony to another, and alluwcd 
no hatter to have more than two ajoprentices at one time ; 
that burdened imported sugar, rum, and molasses with exor- 
bitant duties ; and that forbade the Carolinians cutting down 
the juicy trees of their vast pine forests, and converting 
their wood into staves and their sap into turpentine and 
tar, for commercial purposes. 

During many long and gloomy years the colonists had 
struggled up, unaided and alone, from feebleness to strength. 
They had erected forts, raised armies, and fought battles 
cheerfully for England's glory and their own preservation, 
without England's aid and often without her sympathy. 
During the Seven Years' Wai-, whose turmoil was now ended 
in America, did they cheerfully tax themselves and contri- 
bute men, money, and provi>'-ii::);i. They lost, during that 
war, twenty-five thousand robu L young men, besides many 
seamen. That war cost the colonies, in the aggregate, full 
twenty millions of dollars, besides the flower of their youth ; 
and in return Parliament granted them, during the contest, 
at different periods, only about five and a half millions of 
dollars. And yet the British ministry, in 1760, while the 
colonists were so generously supporting the power and 
dignity of the realm, regarded their services as the mere ex- 
ercise of the duties of subjects to their sovereign, and de- 
clared that, notwithstanding grants of money had been made 
to them, they expected to get it all back, by imposing a tax 
upon them after the war, in order to raise a revenue. Even 
the generous Pitt used language of this kind in a letter to 
the governor of Virginia. It was the language of a minister 
who saw the treasury of his country empty — exhausted by 
a long and expensive war, not yet ended, and with enormous 
demands upon it, which called for taxation in every con- 



186 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [^r. 27 

ceivablc form — and who always maintained that his govern- 
ment had the right to tax the colonies. 

The resignation of Pitt (who was disgusted with some 
of his shallow and corrupt colleagues) at that crisis was a 
most unfortunate occurrence for England, for while the 
Earl of Egremont, a weak and passionate man, was his 
nominal successor, the Earl of Bute was the controling 
poAver in the cabinet, because of his connection with the 
King and his mother. And around Bute moved satellites 
obsequious alike to himself and the monarch. The most 
fawning of these was Doddington, who had been raised to 
the peerage as Lord Melcombe. " He was to Bute," 
says Bancroft, " what Bute was to George the Third." 
He wished Bute joy, on the resignation of Pitt, " of being 
delivered of a most impracticable colleague, his Majesty of 
a most imperious servant, and the country of a most dan- 
gerous minister." He said, " men of the city are not to 
demand reasons of measures ; they must, and they easily 
may be taught better manners." Lord Barrington said of 
the weak King, "He is the best and most amiable master 
that ever lived since tlie days of Titus. ■^' ••'•■ "••'■ God has or- 
dained him with the prerogative, and left to his servants 
the glory of obedience." Such were the men who sur- 
rounded the young monarch and gave direction to the gov- 
ernment of England — the great public interests of a people 
who, by their moral and material strength, had just taken 
the foremost rank in the family of nations. 

The importance of the American colonies was now ac- 
knowledged, and the parent government viewed them with 
mingled feelings of pride and jealousy. Secret agents were 
dispatched to ascertain and report to the ministry the real 
condition of the colonists. Some of these gave such fabulous 
accounts of their wealth and gi-eat resources that the govern- 



1761.] WRITS OF ASSISTANCE. 187 

ment resolved to draw much revenue from them ; and the 
democratic tendency of the people, who seemed to inhale a 
love of liberty with the free air of their fresh world, was so 
magnified that the government was alarmed. Long and 
anxious were the councils of the advisers of the young- 
King, and the Board of Trade, in whose charge the general 
affairs of the colonies rested, proposed to annul all the col- 
onial charters, reduce each colony to a royal government, 
and vigorously enforce all existing revenue laws. At the 
same time the dignitaries of the established church, acting 
in concert with the government, proposed plans for making 
the doctrines and rituals of the Church of England the 
state religion in America. 

The first act which revealed the intentions of the Par- 
liament to enforce the oppressive revenue laws was the 
authorization of writs of assistance. These were general 
search warrants, which not only allowed the King's civil 
and naval officers, who held them, to break open any citi- 
zen's store or dwelling to search for suspected contraband 
goods, but compelled sheriffs and other local officers to 
assist in the work. The sanctities of private life might 
thus he invaded, as a cotemporary asserted, "by the mean- 
est deputy of a deputy's deputy." The political maxim 
of the English constitution, that every man's house is his 
castle, was thus violated, and the people subjected to the 
most obnoxious form of petty tyranny. They resolved not 
to submit to it. 

In Massachusetts, where American commerce had first 
hudded more than a century and a quarter before, and had 
now become vastly important, the first firm voice of opj)o- 
sition to the writs of assistance was heard. A question 
arose whether the persons employed in enforcing the revenue 
laws should have power to invoke generally the assistance 



188 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [JEt. 28. 

of all the executive officers of the colony. Chief Justice 
Hutchinson appointed a day when arguments upon the 
question would be heard in the old Town Hall in Boston. 
The court for the purpose was held in February, 1761. It 
was argued on one side that the revenue officers in America 
had like powers with those of England, and to refuse a writ 
of assistance to them would be in effect to deny that the 
Parliament of Great Britain was the sovereign legislature 
of the British empire. 

It w^as argued on the other hand that such an act was 
in violation of the British constitution, and therefore void, 
"No act of Parliament," said the fiery James Otis, of 
Barnstable, then advocate general of the colony, " can es- 
tablish such a writ.'"' With burning' words and vehemence 
of manner that were but faint expressions of his feelings, 
that wonderful man, then properly named the " great in- 
cendiary of New England," portrayed the nature and 
effects of these writs, which compelled the whole govern- 
ment and the oppressed people to render aid in enforcing 
the unrighteous revenue laws for the colonies. " I am de- 
termined," he said "to sacrifice estate, ease, health, ap- 
plause, and even life, to the sacred calls of my country in 
opposition to a kind of power which cost one king of Eng- 
land his head and another bis tlfi'one. These writs," he 
exclaimed, " are the worst instrument of arbitrary power, 
the most destructive of English liberty and the fundamen- 
tal j)rinciples of law." 

The majority of the judges believed Otis to be right ; 
and when, according to John Adams, who was present, the 
orator exclaimed " to my dying day I will o])pose, with all 
the power and faculties that God has given me, all such 
instruments of slavery on one hand and villainy on the 
other," the whole audience seemed ready to take up arms 



1761.] NEW YORK DISTURBED. 189 

afi;ainst the writs of assistance and kindred measures. 
" Then and there," said Adams, " American independence 
was born ; the seeds of j^atriots were then and there sown." 

Hutchinson, amhitious of royal favor, and grasping for 
the emoluments of office which that favor might secure to 
him, took. sides with the crown, and thereb)^ planted in his 
own side that thorn of popular distrust which finally led 
to his ignominious flight to England. Great discontents 
followed, and the fires of the Revolution began to kindle all 
over the land. 

The province of New York, at this time, was power- 
fully agitated, not so much by rehgious controversies, which 
before the war had occupied a large space in the public 
mind, nor by the writs of assistance which had inflamed 
Massachusetts, but because a blow had been struck at the 
independence of the judiciary. Lieutenant Governor De 
Lancey had died suddenly, at the close of July, 1760, after 
spending several hours at a dinner party on Staten Island, 
and the government devolved temporarily on Dr. Cadwal- 
lader Golden, the president of the council. Golden was 
then seventy-three years of age. On hearing of the death 
of De Lancey, he came from his rural retreat in Orange 
county and took up his residence at the province house in 
the fort at New York. General Monckton, who had lately 
been appointed governor of the province, was too much en- 
gaged in military aff.iirs to pay any attention to civil duties, 
and he joined in a recommendation for the appointment of 
Golden as lieutenant governor. 

The chief justice of the province had lately died. As 
the other judges had some doubts as to the validity of their 
commissions, since the demise of the late King, they and 
the people urged Dr. Golden to fill the vacant seat of the 
chief justice immediately, that processes might not cease. 



190 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [JEt. 28. 

Colilen's reply was ambiguous. He was contemplating his 
own aao-randizement, and had resolved to compliment the 
Earl of Halifax, the secretary of state for the colonies, by de- 
s'lnn'j: him to nominate a chief justice. This was done, and 
more. Through the influence of Governor Pownall, Pratt, 
a Boston lawyer, was not nominated but actually appointed 
chief justice of New York, to hold his office, not, as before 
the late sovereign's death, "•' during good beha^Hior," but " at 
the pleasure of the King." 

The assembh- and the people were startled by this blow 
at the independence of the judiciary. They held this new 
tenure of judicial power to be inconsistent with liberty in 
America. To make the King's will, they said, the tenure , 
of office, is to make the bench of judges the instrument 
of the royal prerogative. The administration of justice 
throughout all America will thus be subjected to an 
absolutely iiTesponsible power. The assembly rebelled 
against this encroachment on the rights of the people, 
and resolved that while the judges should hold office by 
such tenure they would grant them no salary. They in 
effect declared that the people were the true source of all 
authority. " For some years past," wrote Golden, cora- 
plainingly, to the Board of Trade, " three popular lawyei"^,* 
educated in Connecticut, who have strongly imbibed the 
independent principles of that country, calumniate the ad- 
ministration in every exercise of the prerogative, and get 
the applause of the mob by propagating the doctrine that 
all authority is derived from the people." 

The old question of church and state was now revived 
in New York. It was strongly suspected, what subse- 
quently proved to 'be the fact, that the Episcopal clergy 

* These were William Liringston, John Morrin Scott, and William Smith, 
the liistoriaa 



1762.] ECCLESIASTICAL DISPUTES. 191 

were in secret communication vdih Dr. Seeker, Archbishop 
of Canterbury, on the subject of the establishment of epis- 
copacy in America, and the extension of the ecclesiastical 
dominion of the Church of En2:land over the colonies. Dr. 
Johnson, the president of King's College in New York, had 
this project deeply at heart, and in his zeal he revealed suf- 
ficient to alarm the fears of the more timid or watchful op- 
ponents of the scheme. The colonists opposed it on political 
grounds only. They knew that if Parliament could create 
dioceses and appoint bishops, it would introduce tithes and 
crush so-called heresy. They remembered the character of 
the hierarchy from the oppression of which the ancestors of 
the Puritans had fled, and, conscious of the natural alliance 
between a banded church and state in all measures afiect- 
ing each other, it was fair to conclude that if the British 
gOTernment was assuming the character of a tyranical 
master, the church would necessarily be its abettor. They 
also knew, from the teachings of all history, that the most 
implacable tyrant was an ecclesiastical one. 

For these reasons, those who espoused the cause of the 
people in their opposition to the oppressive measures of 
government (and among them was found Philip Schuyler) 
were vigilant in watching and active in thwarting every 
movement that tended to episcopacy in America. In th.* 
popular discussions of the rights of the people in the 
province of New York, the ecclesiastical topic formed an 
elemental and substantial part for many years. The con- 
troversy was sometimes upon the ecclesiastical topic alone. 
and ran high. The newspapers and pamphlets were the 
principal vehicles by which the sentiments and the aro-u- 
meuts of the controversialists were conveyed to the people 
at large. Art was sometimes evoked to aid the pen. One 
example will suffice to illustrate the character of this 



102 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [,'Er. 29. 

auxilliary and the spirit of the opposition. The Political 
Register for 17G9, when the religious controversj^ we are 
considering was at its height, contained a picture entitled 
" An attempt to land a Bishop in America." A portion 
of a vessel called The Hillsborough (in allusion to the Earl 
of Hillsborough, then the colonial secretary) is seen. She 
is lying at a wharf, on which is a crowd of earnest people, 
some with poles pushing her from her moorings. One holds 
up a book inscribed " Sidney on Government ;" another 
has a volume of Locke's Essays ; a third, in the garb of a 
Quaker, holds an open volume inscribed Barclay's Apol- 
ogij, and from the mouth of a fourth is a scroll bearing the 
words " No lords, spiritual or temporal, in New England." 
Half way up the shrouds of the vessel is seen a bishop in 
his robes, his mitre falling, and a volume of Calvin's works, 
hurled by one on shore, is about to strike his head. From 
his mouth issues a scroll, inscribed, "Lord, now lettest 
thou thy servant depart in peace !" In the foreground is 
a paper, on which is written, " Shall they be obliged to 
maintain bishops that can not maintain themselves ?" 
Near it is seen a monkey in the act of throwing a stone at 
the bishop. 

As we have already observed, the war had ceased in 
America, but was continued by the French and English on 
the ocean and among the West Indies with almost unin- 
terrupted success for the latter. Guadaloupe fell into the 
hands of the British ; and at the close of 1762 General 
Monckton, with fresh laurels on his brow, produced his 
commission as governor to the council of New York, and 
then sailed from the' capital of that province with twoline- 
of-battle ships, a hundred transports, and twelve thousand 
regular and colonial troops, the latter led by General Ly- 
man, the former lieutenant of General Sir William John- 



1763.] TREATY OF PEACE, 193 

son. Gates, afterward a major-general in the Eevolutionary 
army, accompanied Monckton as his aid, and was honored 
as the bearer of his general's dispatches to the British gov- 
ernment announcing his capture of Martinique, With 
him went also Kichard Montgomery, who, the leader of an 
invading army, was killed at Quebec at the close of 1775. 
He was then a captain in the service. Both he and Gates 
were afterward the friends and companions-in-arms of 
Philip Schuyler. 

Monckton was successful every where in the West In- 
dies. Grenada, St. Vincent's, St. Lucie, and every island 
of the Caribbean group possessed by the French were 
speedily passed into the hands of the British. Meanwhile 
Spain had, by secret treaty with France, known as the 
Family Compact, (the sovereigns of each empire being 
Bourbons,) become a party in the contest. Spain com- 
menced hostilities against Great Britain before the latter 
power, contrary to the advice of Pitt, who had information 
of the compact, had declared war. At once the British 
cruisers commenced forays upon Spanish colonial commerce. 
It was utterly cut off in a very short time, and in August, 
17G2, the Havana, the key to the Gulf of Mexico, was 
taken by a British armament. 

The finances of France were now almost ruined. Loss 
after loss was weakening the prestige of her arms and sap- 
ping her moral and material strength, and she was com- 
pelled to abandon the contest, and with it all claim to 
territorial possession on the North American continent. 
Finally, on the 3d of November, 1762, a preliminary treaty 
was negotiated at Fontainebleau, and definitely concluded 
at Paris, on the 10th of February, 1763, by which all the 
vast region east of the Mississippi river (except the island 
of New Orleans, which, with Louisiana, had been ceded by 

1) 



194 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [yET. 30. 

France to Spain,) was given up to the British. Spain, 
then in possession of Florida, gave it for the Havana, and 
the sovereignty of the whole eastern half of North America, 
from the orange groves of tlie Gulf of Mexico to the polar 
ice, was vested in the British crown. 

But the Indians on the southern and western frontiers, 
incited by French emissaries, were yet restless and unsub- 
dued. Those on the borders of the Carolinas were making 
frequent bloody forays upon the settlements. Mutual 
wrongs, inflicted by the Virginians and Carolinians, and 
the warlike Chcrokees — the bold mountaineers of the 
southern country — kindled a tierce war in the spring of 
1760. In the course of a few weeks, the whole frontier of • 
the Carolinas was desolated by the savages. General Am- 
herst liccded the calls of the southrons for aid, and in 
April, Colonel Montgomery, with some British regulars 
and provincial troops, marched from Charleston and laid 
waste a portion of the Cherokee country. Yet these bold 
highlanders were not subdued. The following year Colonel 
Grant led a still stronger force against them, burned their 
towns, desolated their fields, and killed many of their war- 
riors. Then they humbly sued for peace. It was granted 
at a treaty in June, 1761, and comparative repose was 
vouchsafed to the frontier settlers for several years. 

Meanwhile French emissaries were stirring up the north- 
western tribes to hostilities against the English. The cloud 
of danger soon became most portentous. Pontiac, the sa- 
gacious chief of the Ottawas, who met Rogers on his way 
to Detroit, and who had been an early ally of the French, 
secretly confederated several of the Algonrpiin tribes, in 
1763, for expelling the English from the country west of the 
Alleghanies. That wily chief had professed attachment to 
the English. There appeared safety on the borders of his 



1764.] PONTIAC'S WAR. 195 

dominions, and emigration began to pour a living flood into 
the wilderness. Pontiac became alarmed at this subtle in- 
vasion. He saw in the dim future his whole land in pos- 
session of the pale flxces, and his race driven away or 
extinguished. With patriotic impulse he resolved to strike 
a deadly blow for kindred and country. Secretly he con- 
federated the savage tribes ; adroitly he eluded the vigilance 
of the white man ; and within a fortnight, in the summer 
of 1763, all the frontier posts west of Oswego, possessed by 
the English, fell into his hands, except Niagara, Fort Pitt, 
and Detroit. Boquet saved Fort Pitt ; Niagara was not 
attacked ; and Detroit, after sustaining a siege almost 
twelve months, Avas relieved by a provincial force, under 
Colonel Bradstreet, in May, 1764. Soon after this, the 
power of the Indians was completely broken, and the last 
act in the drama of the French and Indian war was closed. 



CHAPTER XII. 

After the peace of 1763, Mr. Schuyler was called into 
the sei-vice of the colony in various civil employments. At 
the same time he was assiduously engaged in the manage- 
ment of his own private affairs, the operations of which 
were constantly increasing. With Colonel Bradstreet, 
Philip Livingston, and later, with Sir Henry Moore, the 
governor of the colony, he was a frequent purchaser from 
the Indians and others of lands in the Hudson and Mo- 
hawk vallies. He had an interest in lands about Fort 
Edward, and in the Van Rensselaer estate in Columbia 
county. He also had large tracts of land in Duchess 
county and in the manor of Cortland. His ample Sara- 
toga estate was the most valuable of all, for it was im- 
proved, and had mills of considerable importance at the 
falls of the Fish Creek. He had a schooner named Mo- 
hawk, in trade on the Hudson ; also two or three sloops ; 
and he was active in efforts to promote emigi'ation from 
Europe to the wild lands of the west. 

When in London, in 1761, Mr. Schuyler became ac- 
quainted with the eminent surgeon, Professor Thomas 
Brand, with whom he kept up a correspondence for some 
time. At the close of 1763 he wrote a letter to that gen- 
tleman, in which he laid before him a plan for a settlement 
at Detroit, which had been proposed by Colonel Bradstreet, 
in which Mr. Schuyler appears to have taken great interest. 



1764] UNWISE POLICY. 197 

The object of that portion of Schuyler's letter was to en- 
gage the cooperation of the ministry in promoting emigra- 
tion to America, and especially to the western wilderness 
lately wrested from the French. In his reply to that letter, 
in March following, Professor Brand informed him that 
schemes for settlement did not in the least occupy the at- 
tention of the ministry or the people. The chief objection, 
he said, was the fact that the war had cost so many lives 
that none could then be spared from England for the .pur- 
pose of settlement in the New World. " But Germany," 
he added, " might and would supply us upon a proper pro- 
posal, and even a colony of Jews would be of service and 
of public benefit." ■■•'•" 

Professor Brand seems not to have been aware that at 
that very time the ministry were casting obstacles in the 
way of emigration to America, and especially of Germans, 
who were generally liberty lov-ing men. Some had already 
gone into New England, and more into Pennsylvania. The 
emigration of French Eoman Catholics to Maryland, which 
had commenced, was discouraged; and the easy terms upon 
which wild lands might be procured were so materially 
changed that, toward the dawning of the Revolution, the 
vast solitudes west of the Alleghanies were seldom pene- 
trated by any but the hunter from the seaboard provinces. 
This conduct of the government proceeded from the narrow 
and unwise policy toward the colonies, based chiefly upon a 
jealousy of their -increasing strength and importance, which 
marked the first ten years or more of the reign of George 
the Third, and formed one of the counts of the indictment 
of that monarch, when he was arraigned, by the Declara- 
tion of Independence, in 1776, before the bar of the nations. 
" He has endeavored," says that Declaration, " to prevent 

* Autograph letter. 



198 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [JEr. 31. 

the population of these States, for that purpose obstructing 
the hiws for the naturalization of foreigners; refusing to 
pass others to encourage their migration hither, and raising 
the conditions of new appropriations of lands." 

In another part of his letter, Professor Brand informed 
Mr. Schuyler that the latter had been elected a member of 
the Society of Arts, in London, and that a gold medal had 
been voted by the Society " to Mr. Elliot, of New Eng- 
land, for discovering iron ore in the American black sand, 
and that in a very great proportion." Then, after in- 
quiring how he shall send him papers and transactions, 
whether there is a library at Albany, or charts of the coun- 
try about that city, he begs him to continue to write to 
him, for Schuyler had evidently given him a great deal of 
information concerning the resources of his country. 

In 1764, Mr. Schuyler was appointed by the General 
Assembly of New York, one of the commissioners to manage 
the controversy on the part of his province respecting the 
partition line between that colony and Massachusetts Bay, 
and he was actively engaged in that discussion in 1767, 
with associates and opponents of the first rank and char- 
acter.* He also became involved in the fierce contro- 
versy between New York and the New Hampshire Grants, 
as the present State of Vermont was called, which contin- 
ued until the kindling of the war for independence. 

These disputes grew out of the confusion produced by 
royal charters. The western boundary of the colonies of 
Massachusetts Bay and Connecticut were, by their charters, 
ui)on the " South Sea," or Pacific Ocean ; while Charles the 
Second had granted to his brothei-, the Duke of York, the 
])rovince of New Nethcrland, which lay along the Hudson 
river, directly west of those colonies. Here was direct and 

* Chancellor Kent. 



1764] BOUNDARY DISPUTES. 199 

palpable conflict, which nothing but mutual concessions 
and compromises could settle. It was an open question 
when the Duke obtained possession of his domain by con- 
quest in 16u4. Commissioners then settled it by agreeing 
that the partition line between New York and the New 
England provinces should be at twenty miles eastward of 
the Hudson river, and running parallel with that stream. 
This line was first established between New York and Con- 
necticut, and more than a hundred years afterward, by 
precedent, between New York and Massachusetts Bay. 
This controversy being concluded. New Hampshire ap- 
peared, and, pleading those precedents, asked to have its 
own partition line formed by the extension of those of its 
sister colonies directly northward. New York had reluct- 
antly yielded a similar claim to Massachusetts, and now 
that province emphatically protested against the new claim, 
declaring that its eastern boundary, north of the Massa- 
chusetts line, was the Connecticut river. 

Meanwhile, Governor Benning Wentworth, of New 
Hampshire, who had been authorized to issue patents for 
unimproved lands within the limits of his j)rovince, yielded 
to the numerous applications of settlers who were pene- 
trating the country westward of the Connecticut river, 
and made grants of lands to them. Some of these settlers 
had even crossed the Green mountains, and built their 
pioneer fires on the wooded shores of Lake Champlain. 

Wentworth's first grant for a township was in 1749. 
It was named Bennington, in honor of the governor, and 
occupied an area six miles square, having for its western 
boundary a line parallel with that between New York and 
Massachusetts. This grant brought the territorial question 
between New York and Now Hampshire to an issue. The 
authorities of New York protested against the grant. 



200 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [A^t. 31. 

Wentworth paid no attention to it, and at the commence- 
ment of the Frencli and Indian war, he had issued patents 
for fourteen townships west of the Connecticut river. That 
war absorbed all minor considerations for the time ; but 
when, in 1760, Canada passed into the hands of the Eng- 
lish, the dispute between New York and New Hampshire 
was revived. Immigration began to pour its living flood 
into the beautiful Green mountain region, and in the course 
of four or five years Wentworth issued patents for no less 
than one hundred and thirty-eight townships of the size of 
Bennington. These occupied a greater portion of the pre- 
sent State of Vermont, and the territory was called the 
New Hampshire Grants from that time until the kindling 
of the war for independence. And the hardy yeomanry 
who first appeared in arms for the defense of their terri- 
torial rights, and afterwards as patriots in the common 
cause when the Revolution broke out, were called Green 
Mountain Boys. 

Lieutenant Governor Golden, acting chief magistrate of 
New York in the absence of General Monckton, perceiving 
the necessity of asserting the claims of that province to the 
country westward of the Connecticut river, wrote an ener- 
getic letter to Governor AVentworth, protesting against his 
grants. He also sent a proclamation among the people, de- 
claring the Connecticut river to be the boundary between 
New York and New Hampshire. But protests and pro- 
clamations were alike unheeded by the governor and the 
people until the year 1764, when the matter was laid before 
the King and council for adjudication. The decision was 
in favor of New York. Wentworth immediately bowed to 
supreme authority, and ceased issuing patents for lands 
westward of the Connecticut. The settlers, considering 
oil questions in dispute to be thus finally disposed of, were 



1764.] FOLLY AND INJUSTICE. 201 

contented, and went on hopefully in tlie improvement of 
their lands. Among these settlers in the Bennington town- 
ship were members of the Allen family, in Connecticut, 
two of whom, Ethan and Ira, were conspicuous in public 
affairs for many years, as we shall hereafter have occasion 
to observe. 

The authorities of New York, not content with the award 
of territorial jurisdiction over the domain, proceeded, on the 
decision of able legal authority, to assert the right of prop- 
erty in the soil of that territory, and declared Wentworth's 
patents all void. They went further. Orders were issued for 
for the survey and sale of farms in the possession of actual 
settlers, who had bought and paid for them, and, in many in- 
stances, had made great progress in improvements. In this. 
New York acted not only unjustly, but very unwisely. This 
oppression, for oppression it was, was a fatal mistake. It 
was like sowing dragons' teeth to see them produce a crop 
of full-armed men. The settlers were disposed to be quiet, 
loyal subjects of New York. They cared not who was 
their political master, so long as their private rights were 
respected. But this act of injustice converted them into 
rebellious foes, determined and defiant. A new and power- 
ful opposition to the claims of New York was created. It 
was now no longer the shadowy, unsubstantial goverwnent 
of New Hampshire, panoplied in proclamations, that op- 
posed the pretensions of New York ; it was an opposition 
composed of the sinews and muskets and determined wills 
of the people of the Grants, backed by all New Hampshire 
— aye, by all New England. New York had given them 
the degrading alternative of leaving their possessions to 
others or of repurchasing them. As freemen, full of the 
spirit of true English liberty coming down to them through 
their Puritan ancestors, they could not submit to this al- 

9* 



202 rniLiP sciiuyler. [.'Rt. si. 

tern.ativc, and they preferred to defend their riglits even at 
the expense of their blood. Foremost among those who 
took this decisive stand was Ethan Allen, who became the 
leader in the border forays and irritating movements that 
ensued. 

The governor and council of New York at length sum- 
moned all the claimants under the New Hampshire Grants 
to appear before them at Albany, with their deeds and 
other evidences of possession, within three months, failing 
in which, it was declared that the claims of all delinquents 
should be rejected. The people of the Grants paid no at- 
tention to the requisition. Meanwhile speculators had been 
purchasing from New York large tracts of these estates in 
the disputed territory, and were making preparations to 
take possession. The people of the Grants sent one of their 
number to England, and laid their cause before the King 
and council. He came back in August, 17G7, armed with 
an order for the Governor of New York to abstain from 
issuino- any more patents for lands eastward of Lake Cham- 
plain. But as the order was not ex j^ost facto in its oper- 
ations, the New York patentees proceeded to take possession 
of their purchased lands. This speedily brought on a crisis, 
and for seven years the New Hampshire Grants formed a 
theater where all the elements of civil war, except actual 
carnage, were in active exercise. 

In these violent disputes between the authorities of 
New York and the people of the Grants, Mr. Schuyler 
was frequently an active participant, lirst, indirectly, as 
one of the commissioners for settling the partition line be- 
tween New York and Massachusetts, then as colonel of the 
militia of Albany, and for several years as member of the 
New York General Assembly. Of course, those who up- 
held the claims of New York incurred the bitter resent- 



17G4.] THE STAMP ACT. 203 

ment of the New England jjcople ; and as Mr. Schuyler 
was among the most prominent of them, he was most 
thoroughly disliked by those who regarded New York as 
an oppressor. This resentment was yet felt when the war 
for independence commenced, and it frequently appeared in 
the relations between General Schuyler and the New Eng- 
land officers and troops, when he was commander-in-chief 
of the northern department of the contiuental army. 

Another dispute, far more important, because more gen- 
eral and momentous, occupied the minds of the leading men 
not only of New York but of all America during the period 
we have just been considering. It was a quarrel between 
Great Britain and her American colonies, because the for- 
mer claimed and asserted the right to tax the latter, by 
imposts or otherwise, without their consent. The first 
overt acts of resistance, as we have seen, were in opposi- 
tion to the writs of assistance, in 1761. The next move- 
ment of the British Parliament that called for opposition 
on the part of the colonies was the reenactment of the 
sugar act, and the adoption of kindred measure?, which 
seriously interfered with the trade of the colonies with the 
West Indies. 

Then came the famous Stamp Act. George Grenville 
had boasted in the House of Commons tliat he could pro- 
cure a revenue from America. He was raised to the head 
of the treasury, and forthwith proceeded to redeem that 
promise. In a small room in Downing street, late in Sep- 
tember, 1763, he and Lord North, and another member of 
the treasury board, directed the first secretary of the treas- 
ury to " write to the commissioners of the stamp duties 
to prepare the draft of a bill to be presented to Parliament 
for extending the stamp duties to the colonies." It was 
done, and early in 1764 the American assemblies were 



204 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [.Et. 32. 

informed of the fact by their respective agents. This intel- 
li'1-ence created mingled sentiments of alarm, aversion, and 
iudi<i-nation throushont the colonies. " Taxation without 
representation," they said, " is tyranny." Even Grenville 
doubted the propriety of taxing the colonies without allow- 
ing them a representation in Parliament ; yet, bolder than 
all ministers before him, he resolved on trying the experi- 
ment. But he made that trial with caution. It was more 
than a year after notice of the minister's intentions was 
given that a stamp act became law. 

Unalarmed by the gathering storm in America, the 
King, in his speech on the opening of Parliament early in 
1765, recommended the canying out of Grenville's scheme 
and the enforcement of obedience in the colonies. On the 
22d of March following, the King cheerfully gave his sig- 
nature to an act that declared that no legal instrument of 
writing should thereafter be valid in the colonies unless it 
bore a government stamp, for which specified sums should 
be paid, from sixpence to two pounds sterling. The pro- 
tests of colonial agents, the remonstrances of London mer- 
chants trading with America, and the Avise suggestions of 
men acquainted with the temper and resources of the 
Americans, were set at naught. The infotuated ministry 
openly avowed their intention "to establish the power of 
Great Britain to tax her colonies ;" and even the chimney- 
sweepers of London, Pitt said, spoke of "owr subjects in 
America." 

Intelligence of the passage of the Stamp Act produced 
intense excitement throughout the colonies. Nowhere did 
the flame of resentment burn more fiercely than in New 
York, and nowhere were its manifestations more emphatic. 
Golden, the acting governor, then seventy-seven years of age, 
was a liberal minded man, but, true to his sovereign, as liis 



17G5.] OPPOSITION TO THE STAMP ACT, 205 

representative he felt it his duty to discountenance all op- 
position to the acts of the imperial legislature. But his 
opposition was like a breath opposed to the strong wind. 
Associations calUng themselves Sons of Liberty were organ- 
ized at various places in the province, and though not nu- 
merous at first, were very active and potent as centers of 
opposition. The press spoke out without reserve through 
its correspondents. Although the assembly, when charged 
with contemplating independence, "rejected the thought," 
the germ was swelling in the people's hearts. " If," said a 
newspaper writer at New York, " the interests of the 
mother country and her colonies can not be made to coin- 
cide ; if the same operations of the constitution may not 
take place in both ; if the welfare of the mother country 
necessarily requires the sacrifice of the most valuable rights 
of the colonies — the right of making their own laws, and 
disposing of their own property by representatives of their 
own choosing — if such really is the case between Great 
Britain and her colonies, then the connection between 
them ought to cease, and sooner or later it inevitably must 
cease." 

The pulpit, especially in New England, denounced the 
scheme as unholy ; and to the exhortation of the church- 
man to loyalty toward " the Lord's anointed," the dissenter 
responded, " the people are the ' Lord's anointed.' " In 
the city of New York a committee of correspondence, to 
communicate with other Sons of Liberty, was chosen, with 
Isaac Sears, their great leader, at the head, and meas- 
ures were adopted to compel the appointed stamp distrib- 
utor to resign his commission. In several other places 
popular excitement created mobs, and violence ensued : 
stamp distributors were insulted and abused, and before the 
first of November, 1765, the day on which the act was to 



206 P JI I L I P SCHUYLER. [^t. 32. 

go into effect, there were no officers courageous enough to 
attempt to execute its commands. 

Meanwhile, pursuant to an invitation sent out to the 
several colonial assemblies by that of Massachusetts, a 
convention of delegates met in the city of New York on 
the first Tuesday in October, to deliberate upon the sub- 
ject of the act. In that congress nine colonies were repre- 
sented."''-' Kobert K. Livingston, Jolui Cruger, Piiilip Liv- 
ingston, William Bayard, and Leonard Lispenard were 
there in behalf of New York. Timothy Ruggles, of Mas- 
sachusetts, who afterward proved disloyal to the principles 
of popular liberty, was chosen president of the congress, 
and John Cotton was appointed clerk. The congress con- 
tinued in session fourteen days, and adopted a Declaration 
of Rights, written by John Cruger ; a Petition to the King, 
penned by Robert R. Livingston, and a 3Iemorial to both 
Mouses of Parliament, prepared by James Otis. These 
are still regarded as model state papers. Only the presi- 
dent of the congress, and Mr. Ogden, of New Jersey, 
afterward a famous loyalist, withheld their signatures in 
ajiproval of the proceedings. 

General Gage was now commander-in-chief of the Bri- 
tish army in America, and had his "headquarters at Fort 
George, in New York, where a strong garrison was sta- 
tioned. In view of impending troubles, Colden caused the 
lort to be strengthened ; he also replenished the magazine. 
These measures became known, and increased the indigna- 
tion of the people. Their boldness also increased. In 
defiance of the armed ships riding in the harbor, and of 

* Massaclnisctts, New York, New Jersey, T'hodo Island, Penns3-lvania, 
Delawafe, Coniieclicut, Maryland, and South Carolina. The assemblies of 
New Hampshire, Virginia, North Carolina, and Georgia, wrote that they 
would agree to whatever might bo done by the congress. 



] 765.] THE COLONISTS DEFIANT, 207 

the troo]3s in the garrison, they appeared before the fort 
and demanded the delivery of the stamps deposited there, 
to their appointed leader. A refusal was aixswered by 
shouts of defiance, and half an hour afterward the lieu- 
tenant governor was hung in effigy near where the fountain 
in the City Hall Park now is. After that effigy was par- 
aded through the streets, it was taken back to the fort and 
there consumed in a bonfire made of tlie wooden fence that 
surrounded the Bowling Green. Colilen's coach, which the 
mob had dragged from his carriage bouse, was cast upon 
the pile, and all were consumed together. Every effijrt of 
the Sons of Liberty to restrain -the mob from injuring pri- 
vate property was ineffectual, and excesses were committed 
disgraceful alike to the city and the civilization of the day. 
During this excitement the military were prudently kept 
within the fort. Golden, alarmed, ordered the stamps to 
be delivered to the mayor and common council of the city, 
the corporation agreeing to pay for all stamps that might 
be destroyed or lost. 

In other places the first of November was observed as 
a day of fasting and mourning. Funeral processions par- 
aded city streets, and bells tolled funeral knells. The flags 
of vessels were placed at half-mast, and the newspapers ex- 
hibited the broad black-line tokens cf grief. The courts 
were all closed, because no business could be legally trans- 
acted without the stamps ; legal marriages ceased ; ships 
remained in port, and all business was suspended. There 
was a lull in the storm that for months had been raging in 
the colonies. 

The tempest was not subdued. IL was gathering re- 
newed strength for a more furious blast. It soon went 
forth. The Sons of Liberty were more active than ever. 
Mobs began to assail depositories of stamps and insult the 



208 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [^T. 33. 

custodians. The more moderate classes took milder but 
elFectual methods for demonstrating their disapprobation. 
Merchants formed non-importation associations, and agreed 
to refrain from all purchases of goods in England until the 
obnoxious act should be repealed. Domestic manufactures 
were commenced in almost every family ; in nearly every 
household was heard the hum of wheels and the clatter of 
shuttles. Rich men and women, who commonly walked in 
broadcloths and brocades, now appeared, on all occasions, 
in homespun garments. That wool might not become 
scarce, the use of sheep-flesh for food was discouraged, and 
in various ways the colonists practically asserted their in- 
dependence of the mother country. 

These demonstrations alarmed the ministry and the 
British people. They were powerful protests against the 
coercive measures of the government ; and the sentiments 
of the colonists, embodied in the papers put forth by the 
congress, were respectful but firm words, spoken manfully 
in the ears of the British ministry, demanding a retrogres- 
sive policy. These were seconded by the London merchants, 
whose trade was ruined ; and early in January a bill to re- 
peal the Stamp Act was introduced into Parliament. On 
the 18th of March, 1766, the obnoxious act was repealed, 
and the joyful intelligence thereof reached New York in 
May following. 

On the repeal of the act, London warehouses were illu- 
minated and shipping in tlie Thames were decorated. In 
America the measure was celebrated by bonfires, illumina- 
tions, and other demonstrations of joy. The city of New 
York was filled with delight. Bells rang out meny peals, 
cannon roared, and placards every where appeared, calling 
a meeting of the citizens to celebrate the event. Hundi-eds 
assembled, and marching through " the fields" to where the 



1T66.] PUBLIC REJOICINGS. 209 

City Hall now stands, they fired a royal salute of twenty- 
one guns. At Howard's, where the Sons of Liberty feasted, 
an immense table was spread. Twenty-eight " loyal and 
constitutional toasts" were drunk with delight ; the city 
was illuminated in the evening, and several bonfires were 
lighted. 

Again, on the King's birth-day (the 4th of June), an- 
other celebration was held under the auspices of Sir Henry 
Moore, the governor. The chief magistrate, the council, mil- 
itary officers, and the clergy, dined at the "King's Arms," 
near the Bowling Green, where General Gage resided. 
The people had a grand feast in "the fields." They roasted 
an OS whole. Twenty-five barrels of beer and a hogshead 
of rum were opened for the populace at the expense of the 
city. Twenty-five pieces of cannon, answering to the num- 
ber of the King's years, ranged in a row on the site of the 
present City Hall, thundered a royal salute ; and in the 
evening twenty-five tar barrels, hoisted upon poles, were 
burned, and gorgeous fire-works were exhibited at the 
Bowling Green. The Sons of Liberty feasted that day at 
Montagnie's, and with the sanction of the governor they 
erected a mast, and placed upon it the inscription, " To 
his Most Gracious Majesty, George the Third, 3Ir. Pitt, 
and Liberty." 

On account of his advocacy of the Eepeal Bill, the 
Americans idolized Pitt. At a meeting in New York, on 
the 23d of June, the citizens present signed a petition 
praying the assembly to erect a statue in his honor. That 
body complied, and at the same time voted an equestrian 
statue to the King. Both were set up in 1770. That of 
Pitt was made of marble, and erected at the intersection 
of Wall and William streets ; that of the King was made 
of lead, and placed in the center of the Bowling Green, 



210 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [Mt. 33. 

the head of the horse and the face of the sovereign being 
toward the west. Six years afterward the King's statue 
was jiulled down in contempt Ly the people of New York, 
and a little later that of Pitt was mutilated by the Bri- 
tish soldieiy. 

The alleJujahs of popular joy were soon succeeded by 
murmurings of popular discontent. With the repeal of 
the Stamp Act was connected a measure, originated by 
Pitt, called the Declaratory Act, which solemnly affirmed 
that the British Parliament had the right to " bind the 
colonies in all cases whatsoever." Sagacious minds at once 
perceived in this declaration the egg of tyranny concealed, 
and while the people were mad with joy because of the re- 
peal, they were solemnly warned that out of that egg would 
proceed a brood of oppressive measures. The liberal press 
of England declared the same, and when Pitt pleaded as 
an excuse that it Avas an expedient measure to accomplish 
the repeal of the Stamp Act, he was answered with scorn; 
and he who yesterday rode on the top wave of popularity, 
to-day was engulphed in popular distrust. 

The imperial government was incensed and alarmed by 
the extravagant rejoicings on account of the repeal of the 
Stamp Act, and instead of conciliating the colonists by 
just measures, it was resolved to obtain their submission 
by coercion. A large portion of the House of Lords, the 
whole bench of Bishops, and many of the Commons, were 
favorable to strong measures, and the ministry were pre- 
vailed upon to mature other schemes for taxing the colo- 
nies. To preserve quiet and maintain the laws, troops 
were ordered to America, and a Mutiny Act, as it was 
called, Avhich provided for the quartering of these troops 
at the partial expense of the colonists, whom they were sent 
to overawe, was passed. Pitt, who was soon afterward 



176G.] AN OBSTINATE LEGISLATURE. 211 

called to the head of the ministry, and was created Earl 
of Chatham, opposed the measure as unjust and unwise, 
and thus he partially regained the friendship of the Amer- 
icans. 

Early in June Governor Moore informed the assembly 
that he hourly exj)ected troops from England as a rein- 
forcement for the garrison, and that he desired that body 
to make immediate provisions for them, according to the 
requirements of the Mutiny Act. The assembly mur- 
mured, and the Sons of Liberty, aroused by this new phase 
of oppression, resolved in solemn conclave to resist the 
measure to the utmost. The troops came. Mutual hos- 
tility at once appeared ; and a little more than a month 
after the mast was erected by the Sons of Liberty with so 
much good feeling it was cut down by the insolent sol- 
diery. It was reerected the next evening, dedicated as 
" The Liberty Pole," and a flag was displayed from its 
summit. Again it was prostrated, and between the people 
and the soldiery there was the bitterest animosity. 

The New York assembly steadily refused compliance 
with the demands of the Mutiny Act. Twice they were 
prorogued by the governor. At a session late in the au- 
tumn of 1766, he said, " I am ordered to signify to you 
that it is the indispensable duty of the King's subjects in 
America to obey the acts of the Legislature of Great Bri- 
tain. The King both expects and requires a due and 
cheerful obedience to the same. I flatter myself that, on a 
due consideration, no difficulties can possibly arise, or the 
least objection be made to the provisions for the troops, as 
required by the act of Parliament." 

The assembly, unmoved by his appeal, replied that they 
understood the act to refer to soldiers " on the march;" and 
after referring to the specific requisitions of the governor. 



212 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [iEr. 34. 

they remarked, " we can not consent, with our duty to our 
constituents, to put it in the j^ower of any person (what- 
ever confidence we may have in his j)rudence and integrity) 
to lay such burdens on them." 

This determined action of the assembly was followed 
by an inmiediate prorogation. But the press, untrammeled 
by such official interferences, spoke out boldly. " Courage, 
Ameriams," said William Livingston, in a New York 
paper, " liberty, religion, and science are on the wing to 
these shores. The finger of God points out a mighty em- 
pire to your sons. The savages of the wilderness were 
never expelled to make room for idolaters and slaves. The 
land we possess is the gift of Heaven to our fathers, and 
Divine Providence seems to have decreed it to our latest 
posterity. The day dawns in which the foundation of this 
mighty empire is to be laid, by the establishment of a reg- 
ular American constitution. All that has hitherto been 
done seems to be little beside the collection of materials for 
this glorious fabric. 'T is time to put them together. The 
transfer of the European family is so vast, and our growth 
so swift, that before seven years roll over our heads the 
first stone must be laid." How wonderfully prophetic ! 
Seven years from that time the first Continental Congress 
assembled in Philadelphia. 

The ministry were amazed at the rebellious conduct of 
the Americans, and especially of the New York assembly, 
and resolved to bring that refractory legislature into hum- 
ble obedience. They determined not to recede a single line 
from their claim to the right of taxing the colonies, and in 
the spring of 1707 Charles Townshend, Pitt's Chancellor 
of the Exchequer, coalesced with Grenville, while Pitt was 
absent on account of the gout, and presented new taxation 
schemes for the consideration of Parliament. In June a 



1767.] OPPBESSION AND UNION, 213 

bill passed that body for levying duties upon tea, glass, 
paper, painters' colors, et cetera, imported into the colo- 
nies, with the avowed object of drawing a revenue from 
the Americans. Another was soon afterward passed for es- 
tablishing a Board of Trade or Commissioners of Customs 
in the colonies, to be independent of colonial legislation, 
and having general powers of search and seizure similar to 
those in England, the salaries of the commissioners to be 
paid out of their own collections. ^This was soon followed 
by another, which suspended the functions of the New 
York assembly — forbidding them to perform any legislative 
act whatsoever until they should comply with the requisi- 
tions of the Mutiny Act concerning the billeting of troops. 
These acts were framed and passed with the erroneous im- 
pression that the colonists objected rather to the mode than 
to the right of taxation. 

These acts caused a closer union of sentiment through- 
out the colonies, and the leading men every where took the 
ground occupied by Otis in 1761, that taxes on trade, if 
designed to raise a revenue, were ju.st as much a violation 
of their rights as any other tax. The twenty -five or thirty 
colonial newspapers began to teem with essays on colonial 
rights ; and on the 3d of December, 1767, appeared the 
first of the able series of " Letters from a Farmer in Penn- 
sylvania to the Inhabitants of the British Colonies," written 
by John Dickinson, of Philadelphia, which was designed 
to show the danger of allowing any precedent of Parlia- 
mentary taxation to be established upon any ground or to 
any extent. These letters brought Dr. Franklin, then col- 
onial agent in London, to the same way of thinking, (for 
he had been disj)osed to make a distinction between inter- 
nal and external taxation,) and he caused an edition of 
them to be published in England. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

During the period of intense excitement in the colo- 
nies which we have been considering, Mr. Schuyler was an 
active hut conservative politician. He espoused the cause 
of his countrymen at the beginning of the dispute, with a 
clear understanding of the merits of the controversy, but 
his judgment, his love of order, and his social position, 
made him cautious and conciliating until the time amved 
for radical and decisive action. 

Business called him frequently to the city of New 
York, and there he mingled freely with men of every de- 
gree. His social qualities, his strict integrity, his enlight- 
ened and liberal views upon all subjects which challenged 
his attention, made him a welcome guest in every family. 
He was intimate with Sir Henry Moore, the governor, and 
their families visited each other. Dr. Johnson, of Kings' 
College, loved him for his sterling virtues, and politicians 
of every kind considered his friendship a favor and honor. 

As the attorney of Colonel Bradstreet, we find Mr. 
Schuyler in New York in March, 1766, confeiTing with 
General Gage, at Fort George, and receiving for his prin- 
cipal between seven and eight thousand dollars, due him 
for monies advanced to persons who had supplied the In- 
dians with various articles during that officer's expedition 
to Detroit, in 17G4. We also find him, as revealed by his 
correspondence, an adviser and mediator in family feuds 



176G.] SONS OF LIBEETY FEASTING. 215 

among his friends ; a guardian and protector of the weak 
and wayward of his kindred ; and as a valued counselor of 
those who were involved in serious or delicate troubles. At 
the time when he was in New York, in communication 
with General Gage, and a guest of the governor, we find 
him the confidential adviser of the afterward eminent Peter 
Van Shaack, who, while a student in college, privately 
married a daughter of the opulent Henry Cruger. Her 
angry father refused to sanction the marriage, and kept 
them apart. In the midst of his sorrow, a letter from 
Schuyler, then in New York, appears to have afiected him 
most salutarily. " The approbation of good men," said 
the sufferer, " is a powerful incentive to virtue. You 
have exactly expressed the sentiments of niTj heart. How- 
ever happy her presence would make me, without her 
affections I would not wish to have her person, or to 
assert my legal right to it on conditions that will ever 
be but secondary to me." The father soon became recon- 
ciled. 

Mr. Schuyler appears not to have been an enrolled 
member of the association of the Sons of Liberty at Al- 
bany, yet he affiliated with Jeremiah Van Rensselaer, 
Abraham Tenbroeck, Jelles Fonda, Myndert Rosenboom, 
Robert Henry, Volkert P. Douw, Thomas Young, and 
other active members in his native city and the Mohawk 
valley, in their opposition to the Stamp Act. He was in 
New York in the beginning of May, 1766, when the joyful 
news was brought by Major James (who came passenger in 
the Hynde, from Plymouth,) of the repeal of the Stamp 
Act, and he feasted with the Sons of Liberty at Howard's, 
where "twenty-eight loyal and constitutional toasts were 
drank." Twenty-four of these were personal and the re- 
mainder were exceedingly loyal, such as "The King" — 



216 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [^t. 33. 

" The Prince of Wales and the royal family" — " Sir Henry- 
Moore and the land we live in" — and " Perpetual union be- 
tween Great Britain and her colonies." Before the dinner 
he went with a large number of the Sons of Liberty, who, 
on the iuA'itation of the rector, repaired to Trinity Church 
to hear a congi-atulatory discourse on the occasion. On the 
following day a convention of the Episcopal clergy was 
held at the same place, and Dr. Auchmuty, after sermon, 
greeted them with a congratulatory speech suitable to the 
occasion. 

Sir Henry Moore Avas a gay, affable, good-natured, well- 
bred gentleman, and courteous in the highest degree. He 
was very popular and fond of company, and he and his 
family spent much time with the leading inhabitants of 
New York and its vicinity, and higher up the Hudson, in 
social enjoyments. The governor made frequent visits to 
Albany, and was always the guest of Mr. and Mrs. Schuy- 
ler. Their spacious and beautiful mansion had been re- 
cently erected within the southern suburbs of Albany (yet 
standing at the head of Schuyler street), and there they 
had just commenced the dispensing of that generous hos- 
pitality which continued for almost forty years. They then 
had five living children ; and Colonel Bradstreet, who was 
separated from his wife, (the widow of his cousin, Sir Simon 
Bradstreet, of Dublin,) was an inmate of the family. 

Sir Hemy and his family visited Albany in the summer 
of 1766, and at that time Mr. Schuyler and the governor 
rode up the Mohawk valley, on horseback, to the baronial 
residence of Sir William Johnson (now Johnstown) and 
consummated a joint purchase of lands from the Indians 
in that wild region. The governor and his family were 
there again in October, and in December Mr. Schuyler and 
his family were the guests of the governor at the province 



1767.] MILITAEY APPOINTMENTS. 217 

house, in tlie fort at New York, where they left their 
daughter for a visit of several weeks. At that time ar- 
rangements were made for securing some Mohawk lands 
for Sir Henry's friend, Lord Holland, (father of Charles 
James Fox,) and for the purchase of other lands in the 
neighborhood of Fort Stanwix. These land transactions 
and social re-unions continued during the whole administra- 
tion of Sir Henry, which was ended by his death in Sep- 
tember, 1769, when only fifty-six years of age. 

In 1767 Mr. Schuyler appears to have been connected 
with the commissary department. In March the governor 
consults him, by letter, concerning the regiment of Colonel 
Mann, stationed at the head of Lake George, and also as 
to the appointment of commanders of other militia regi- 
ments, whose officers were about to resign on account of 
age, in which he says, " Believe me when I assure you that 
the persons proposed to succeed them could not have a bet- 
ter recommendation than Colonel Bradstreet's and yours." 
Among those recommended was Philip Skene, afterward 
made famous by his connection with affairs at Skenes- 
borough, or Whitehall, at the beginning of the Eevolu- 
tion. 

A little later, we find Colonel Mann, who was assistant 
commissary, complaining to Mr. Schuyler of a lack of pro- 
visions for the garrison at the head of Lake George, and 
requesting him to send some up immediately. 

In May, William Smith, who had esj^oused the cause 
of the colonists, but who, when tlie final struggle began, 
drew back and became an active tory, wrote to Schuyler 
respecting Townshend's tax measures, and said, "When 
will these confusions end ! What a disjointed empire is 
this ! I am afraid it is too complex foi* so vast an extent. 
At ;i]l <.-vents America must rise. The prosperity and ad- 

10 



218 PHILIP SCHUYLER, [^T. 34. 

versity of Britain both conduce to our growth. Would to 
God we had a little more government here !" 

At about this time, Mr. Schuyler, pursuant to the di- 
rections of the governor, was active in the formation of a 
militia regiment, of which he was to be the commander. 
In August folloAving he received his commission, dated the 
20th, in which his district is defined as being bounded "on 
the south by the north line of the manor of Rensselaer- 
"wyck ; on the north by Batten Kill or Creek, and the north 
bounds of Saratoga ; on the east by the county of Cumber- 
land and the townships laid out on the same north and 
south range or line, and on tbe west by the east bounds of 
Schenectada." This comprised large portions of the pre- 
sent counties of Saratoga, Rensselaer, and Washington. 
From that time until the kindling of the Revolution he 
was known as Colonel Schuyler, and held the office to 
which he was appointed by Sir Henry Moore. 

In the autumn of 1767, the commissioners of New York 
and Massachusetts Bay, appointed to fix the boundary line 
between the two provinces, ])ursuant to acts in 1764, met 
in conference at New Haven, in Connecticut. William 
Nicoll, Robert R. Livingston, and William Smith were 
now the commissioners for New York, and Governor 
Hutchinson, William Brattle, and Edward Sheafe were 
the commissioners for Massachusetts. Colonel Schuyler, 
as an early commissioner, had taken great interest in tlie 
controversy, as we have seen, and had been very useful to 
the new board from his own province. He had laid bi'foie 
them .all the mathematical plans and calculations which he 
had made for his private use, and the field-notes he had 
taken when personally engaged in the matter. Mr. Smirh, 
in particular, was under great obligation to him, and on his 
return from the conference, toward the luidJlo of October, 



1Y67.J INDUSTRIAL PURSTTITS, 219 

he wrote a long letter to Colonel Schuyler, detailing the 
proceedings in a concise and perspicuous manner. " I 
brought a sore throat home with me/' he said, " and that 
prevents me from seeing Sir Henry. I wish to know your 
sentiments soon, as a guide to me in what may be proper 
to recommend to him." 

Colonel Schuyler had now erected a pleasant country 
mansion on the bank of the Fish Creek, at Saratoga, a 
short distance from the site of the one burned by the 
French and Indians in 1745, when his kinsman was mur- 
dered ; and he had also enlarged and improved his mills 
there. For some time he had paid much attention to the 
cultivation of flax and hemp. In a letter to Professor 
Brand, of London, as early as 1763, he had urged the pro- 
priety of encouraging the culture of the latter in the colo- 
nies as a matter of national concern. That gentleman, in 
reply, said, " your observations about hemp are very just, 
and apply also to iron, which, if the colonies had been en- 
couraged to have supplied us with, and which they could 
-have done, we need not have regarded Russia, upon whom 
we depended for our naval stores of hemp and iron during 
the war." Professor Brand adds, " In my next I hope to 
send you an account of a machine for pulling up trees by 
the roots, and expeditiously, which has been tried and suc- 
ceeds. It comes from Switzerland." 

Among other improvements at Saratoga, Colonel Schuy- 
ler erected a flax mill in the year 1767, the first of the kind 
in the American colonies. At a meeting of the Society for 
Promoting Arts, of which he was a prominent member, 
held in New York near the close of that year, he laid before 
them a statement concerning his mill, and a cf>-lculation of 
the difference of the work done by it and by tlie hand. 
The society, considering his enterprise of great public im- 



220 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [^T. 34. 

portance, decreed that a medal should be given to him, and 
voted him their " thanks for executing so useful a design 
in the province." At the same meeting a proposition for 
" setting up the business of silk throwing was read, bu 
judged improper, at least at present, for the colony." 

The time was now at hand when the assembly w^oulu 
expire by its septennial limitation. Writs for a new elec- 
tion were issued, and in the newspapers, in caucuses of 
politicians, in hand-bills, and in public assemblies much 
was said in opposition to the system of open voting that 
then prevailed, and the j)reponderance of lawyers in the 
Legislature. Much complaint was also made of the prac- 
tice of self-nomination — "stump candidates," as they are 
now called in the western States — and their solicitation of 
votes. Squibs like the following appeared in the news- 
papers, and indicated a strong feature in public sentiment: 

" A Card. — Jack Bowline and Tom Hatchway send their Services 
(damn Comphmenti?,) to the Freeholders and Freemen of the city of 
New York, and beg they would, in order to try how the Land Ues, take 
an Observation, and they will find : First, That the good People of this 
city are supported by Trade and the Merchants. Second, That the Law- 
yers are supported by the People, 

" Ship Defiance, February 20, 1768." 

Reply. — " A Card : Mr. Axe and Mr. Hammer, being selected by a 
number of their brother Freeholders and Freemen of the city of New 
York to return their hearty thanks to their good friends Mr. Hatchway 
and Mr. Bowline, have con.sented, and think proper to do it in this Pub- 
lic Manner, and to assure them that the " Leather Aprons" (a very re- 
spectable body) are clearly of the Opinion that it is Trade, and not Law, 
that supports our Families. And honest Jack Jolt, the Cartman, says 
he never got Sixpence for riding Law-Books, though he gets many 
Pounds from the Merchants. So, with many tlianks for your sensible, 
good Card, we say as you say, ' No La^vyers to the Assembly.' 

" Trades.men's Hall, February 29, 1768." 

At the close of 1767, Colonel Schuyler was requested 
to represent his native city and county in the colonial 



1768] A BUDDING STATESMAN. 2*il 

assembly. A seat in that body, says Chancellor Kent, 
" was very important, and an evidence of character as well 
as of influence, inasmuch as the members were few and 
chosen exclusively by freeholders, and held their seats for 
seven years." 

Colonel Schuyler at first hesitated, chiefly because his 
private afiliirs demanded his whole attention. But his 
warmest friends urged him to accept the nomination. They 
knew the weight that his unexceptionable character, his 
extensive connections, and his deserved popularity would 
have in the councils of the state at that critical moment, 
when the tempest clouds of revolution were hovering in the 
political sky. "Let me persuade you," wrote William 
Smith, then a member of the assembly, at the middle of 
January, 1768, " not to refuse your services to your coun- 
try — one session, if no more. After seven years we shall 
both abandon to ease. I will promise to leave you in full 
possession of your wolves, foxes, snow, (a small sailing ves- 
sel), mills, fish, and lands at Saraghtogue, and give no dis- 
turbance while the remaining sands run out." Alas ! at 
the end of seven years Colonel Schuyler was in the midst 
of a most stormy career of political life, and about to enter 
upon military duties of the most arduous and responsible 
kind ; while his friend, an apologist for the crown and a 
practical enemy to republicanism in America, was his fierce 
i:»olitical antagonist, preparing himself, by acts of opposi- 
tion to the popular will, for exile in Canada. 

Colonel Schuyler accepted the nomination, much to the 
satisfaction of the people. " Having been yesterday in- 
formed of your being unanimously requested to serve as 
member of the assembly for the city and county, by the 
principal people of Albany, and of your acquiescence 
thereto," wrote Sir William Johnson, from "Johnson 



222 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [^T. 85 

Hall," on the 29th of Februaiy, " I have only to con- 
gratulate you thereupon, and to assure you of my appro- 
bation of their choice, and that I am, sir, your well wisher, 
etc." Little did Sir William think that, a few years later, 
tliis budding statesman would be the virtual controller of 
the lives and fortunes of the baronet's family. 

On the 3d of March, 1768, Colonel Schuyler and Jacob 
H. Tencyck were elected representatives of the city and 
county of Albany. The certificate of this election, signed 
by Harmanus Schuyler, high sherilT of the county, and six 
others, is dated the same day. 

Colonel Schuyler, expecting soon to be called to New 
York to attend to his duties as a legislator, made prepara- 
tions for the accommodation of himself and family there. 
A kinswoman, to whom he wrote on the subject of a 
boarding place for his children, replied that a widow in 
Hanover Square was " willing to take two of them, at fifty 
jiounds a year, two pounds of tea and one loaf of sugar 
each, their stockings and clothes mended ; but new work 
must be paid for making." But he was soon relieved from 
suspense, by a letter from Sir Henry Moore, at the middle 
of March, who wrote : "I have already mentioned to the 
gentlemen of the council that I do not think the assembly 
sliould meet on the return of the jvrits, as I have no par- 
ticular business to lay before them, and their meeting will 
be put off by proclamation, so that I hope you Avill not 
have your plans broken in upon, and your own private 
business interrupted." 

Toward the close of the previous year, Colonel Schuy- 
ler had entertained some strange guests at his mansion. 
These were the famous Attakullakulhi, or the "'Little Car- 
penter," principal chief of the Cherokee nation of Indians, 
and eight subordinate chiefs and warriors, who arrived in 



1768] THE NEW YORK ASSEMBLY. 223 

Nevf York in December, with Captain Schemerhorn and 
an interpreter. They were on theu* way to visit Sir Wil- 
liam Johnson, to seek his mediation for the conclusion of 
a peace between the Cherokees and the Six Nations. Gen- 
eral Gage took an interest in the embassy, and on the 15th 
of December sent them in a sloop to Albany, wliere, at his 
request, they were received by Colonel Schuyler and for- 
warded to Sir William. They attempted to ascend the 
Mohawk in batteaus, but the frost closed it, and they 
made their way on horseback, suffering much from the in- 
clemency of the weather, so seldom felt in their southern 
homes. Colonel Schuyler and two or three others accom- 
panied them as far as Fort Johnson, and then dispatched 
a guide to lead them the remainder of the journey. The 
embassy was successful, and the embassadors returned to 
New York at the close of March. 

The new assembly, of which Colonel Schuyler was a 
member, did not meet until the 27th of October, 1768. 
Philip Livingston, of New York city, was Speaker, and the 
Legislature was composed of some of the most noted men 
of the province.'-' Colonel Schuyler was then thirty-five 
years of age. Although he was among the youngest mem- 
bers of that body, and had never had an hour's experience 

* The following are the names of the members of the New York assem- 
bly when Colonel Schuyler first entered it : 

New York City — PhUip Livingston, James De Lancey, Jacob Walton, 
James Jauncey, Isaac Low, John Cruger, John Alsop. Albany City and 
County — Jacob H. Teneyck, Philip Schuyler. Kings County — Simon Boerum, 
John Rapelye. Queens County — Zebulon Seaman, Daniel Kissam. Suffolk 
County — William NicoH, Eleazer Miller. Richmond County — TIeury Holland, 
Benjamin Seaman. Westchester County — John Thomas, Frederick Philipse. 
Borough of West Chester — John De Lancey. Duchess County — Leonard Vau 
Kleeck, Dirck Brinckerhoff. t/lvfer County — Charles Dewitt, George Clinton. 
Orange County — Henry W^isner, Selah Strong. Manor of Rens^daerwyck — 
Abraham Tenbroeck. Manor of Livingston — Peter R. LivingsLou. Manor 
of Cortlandt — Pierre Van Courtlandt. 



224 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [^t. 35. 

in a deliberative assembly, he at once took an honorable, 
consjticuous, and influential position as a legislator, and 
particularly as a member of S2)ecial committees. Prompt 
in action, extremely methodical, tireless in labor, deter- 
mined in purpose, candid, fearless, and perfectly reliable, 
he challenged and received the respect and confidence of 
the whole House, and the aj)proval of his constituents and 
of the people at large. 

Colonel Schuyler entered upon life as a legislator at a 
most remarkable and important period in the history of his 
country. The people in all the provinces were intensely 
excited by current political event*. They stood firm upon 
the rock of truth — the great principles of justice between 
man and man — and with a full consciousness of integrity, 
and firm reliance U2)on the Divine Protector, they had ut- 
tered the voice of remonstrance so vehemently, and raised 
the arm of resistance so defiantly, that the ire of the home 
government had become hot and implacable. Massachu- 
setts had sent forth, in the name of the .Speaker of the 
assembly, a Circular Letter to all its sister provinces, 
embodying in it the sentiments expressed in a petition 
previously addressed to the King, in which the state 
of the colony was considered in bold words, and the co- 
operation of all other colonies wag solicited. It was a cry 
for union against an oppressor, and nobly was that cry re- 
sponded to. 

The court and the ministry were alanned and incensed 
at the rebellious acts of Massachusetts, and at once deter- 
mined to send fleets and armies to bring them into submis- 
sion if necessary. Tlicy considered the Circular Letter an 
incentive t(^ rebellion, and acted promptly on this opinion. 
Lord Hillsborough immediately sent a copy of it, with a 
letter, to all of the colonial governors, directing them to 



1768.] MASSACHUSETTS DEFIANT. 225 

exert their utmost influence upon their respective assem- 
blies " to take no notice of it, which," he said, " will be 
treating it with the contempt it deserves. If they give 
any countenance to this seditious paper," he continued, 
" it will be your duty to prevent any proceedings upon it 
by an immediate prorogation or dissolution." To Governor 
Bernard, of Massachusetts, he said, " You will, therefore, 
requir(3 of the House of Kepresentatives, in his Majesty's 
name, to rescind the resolution which gave birth to the 
Circular Letter from the Speaker, and to declare their dis- 
approbation of that rash and hasty proceeding." 

The Massachusetts assembly, consisting of one hundred 
and nine members — the largest legislature in America — 
were not easily frightened by ministerial frowns. They 
had counted the cost of opposition to unrighteous demands, 
and were prepared to assert their rights. Instead of com- 
plying with the governor's requisition, they made that very 
demand a fresh cause of complaint. Samuel Adams, that 
staunch old Puritan, whom no gold could bribe nor place 
propitiate, made, on that occasion, as the creatures of the 
crown said, " the most violent, insolent, abusive, and trea- 
sonable declarations that perhaps ever were delivered." 
The fiery Otis, full of the spirit that animated him more 
than six years before, also denounced the measure with 
bitterest scorn. " When Lord Hillsborough knows," he 
said, " that we will not rescind our acts, he should apply 
to Parliament to rescind theirs. Let Britons rescind these 
measures or they are lost forever." In this strain he ha- 
rangued the house for an hour, until even the most zealous 
Sons of Liberty trembled with the fear that he would tread 
upon the domains of treason. 

The assembly refused to rescind by an overwhelming 
majority — ninety-two to seventeen. They sent a letter to 

10* 



226 PHILIP SCUUYLER. [JEt. 35 

the governor, informing him of -theii" action, in which they 
said, " If the votes of this House are to be controlled by 
the directions of a minister, we have left us but a vain 
semblance of liberty." The governor, greatly irritated, 
proceeded to dissolve them, but before that act was con- 
summated they had prepared a list of accusations against 
him, and a petition to the King for his recall. 

Thus Great Britain, through her representative, struck 
the first blow against free discussion in America. The 
Secretary of State, speaking for the King, offered to Mas- 
sachusetts the alternative of submitting to his mandate or 
forfeiting its representative government. In that ordeal 
she acted bravely, and. she was sustained by the warm sym- 
pathy of her sister colonies, for whom like treatment, on 
slight provocation, was doubtless in reserve. 

New York stood up manfully in defense of the right 
of free discussion, and when, on the 14th of November, 
1768, Governor Moore transmitted Lord Hillsborough's in- 
instructions against holding seditious correspondence with 
other colonies, and called upon the Legislature to yield 
obedience, they boldly remonstrated against ministerial in- 
terference with their inalienable privileges. The House 
refused obedience. The governor threatened to dissolve 
them. The foremost leaders of the people sustained their 
representatives, and in newspapers and in hand-bills they 
expressed their sentiments freely. " Let these truths," they 
said, " be indelibly impressed upon our minds, that we can 
not be/ree without being secure in our j^ropertij ; that we 
can not be secure in our proj^erty, if, without our consent, 
others may, as hij rir/Jd, take it away ; that taxes im- 
posed by Parliament do thus take it aivay; that duties, 
laid for the sole purpose of raising money, are taxes; that 



ncS.] POLITICAL FINESSE, 227 

attempts to lay such should be instantly and firmly op- 
posed."* 

In the movements in the assembly concerning the 
Massachusetts Circular Colonel Schuyler was conspicuous. 
The New York city members, at their own request, were 
instructed by their constituents to have the Circular read 
in the asssembly. Possessed with these instructions, says 
a writer of the day, the city members used them for selfish 
jiurposes. They felt sure that the assembly would be dis- 
solved if the Circular should be read, and from time to 
time, before the business of the session was concluded, they 
would threaten to make a motion to read. 

"The design of this finesse," says the writer alkided to, "was to 
feel the pulse of the House, in order if a majority appeared against 
the measure, they would then make the motion, and monopohze the 
credit of it to themselves with their constituents and the continent ; at 
the same time their seats would be secure, as there would be no disso- 
lution. This being done repeatedly, many of the members saw through 
the artifice, which greatly incensed them, upon which Colonel Schuyler, 
a gentleman of great independency of spirit, and a true Son of Liberty, 
being unable any longer to bear the duplicity of those political hypo- 
crites, got up and observed to the House that he was as determined to 
read the Circular Letter, and make resolutions asserting the rights of 
the people of the colony, as any gentleman in the House, but that he 
conceived it most eligible to go through the business of the session, that 
the colony might not sufier for the want of the necessary and annual 
laws, before they came into the resolutions, which would as well serve 
the cause of liberty as if they were made at the expense of the loss of 
tliose laws. But if it was the opinion of the House that tlie resolutions 
with which they had been so often threatened by those gentlemen should 
be made before the business of the session was gone through, as in that 
case they would immediately be dissolved, he thought, in justice to 
themselves and their constituents, to save the time of the former and 
the money of the latter, they should come into them immediately," and 
therefore made a motion for that purpose. 

" Our corrupt politicians found themselves counteracted, and the ar- 
guments of the Colonel would work against them with the judicious if 

* Leake's Llfn and Times of General John Lamb, p. 43. 



228 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [^t. 35. 

they should persist in their former threats, and the other members of 
the House l)cing fully in opinion with him for deferring the resolutions 
until the business was finished, prevailed on him to withdraw his mo- 
tion, which he accordingly did ; so the matter was put off for that time. 
To prevent any member getting the credit of it, the House some time 
afterward made an order to take it up and go into it."* 

Troops, at this time, liad been gathered in Boston, to 
overawe the people and enforce obedience. General Gage 
had been requested by Governor Bernard to act upon his 
secret instructions from Lord Hillsborough, and order some 
soldiers from Halifax. He did so. Meanwhile the gover- 
nor had refused to order the election of a new assembly, 
and the people of Massachusetts took the matter into their 
own hands and called a provincial convention. In that 
convention every town and district in the province but one 
was represented. Gushing, late Speaker of the assembly, 
was chosen chairman. The governor denounced the move- 
ment as treasonable. The convention disclaimed all pre- 
tensions to political authority, but professed to have met 
" in this dark and distressing time to consult and advise as 
to the best manner of preserving peace and good order." 
The governor warned them to desist, and admonished them 
to separate without delay. They were firm but respectful. 
They adopted a petition to the King, and a defense of the 
province, in the form of a letter to the agent of the colony 
in England. This was the first of those popular assemblies, 
which soon assumed all political power, as derived from the 
people. The movement was approved in the other colonies. 
New York spoke warm words of encouragement ; and from 
Virginia, where some of the boldest and most patriotic meas- 
ures of the day had been adopted during the three years 
preceding, and also from South Carolina, came the injunc- 
tion. Stand fast ! 

* The Watchman, No. V., April, 1770. 



17G8.] ARMED OPPRESSORS. 229 

On the day after the closing of the provincial conven- 
tion a British fleet arrived at Boston, bearing two regiments 
from Halifax, and took a hostile attitude while the troop's 
were landing. It was on Sunday morning. Seven hun- 
dred troops, with bayonets fixed, colors flying, and drums 
beating, marched into the doomed town with all the inso- 
lence of victors into a conquered city. A part of them 
encamped on the Common and a part in Faneuil Hall. 
Every strong feeling of the New Engianders was outraged 
by this desecration, and a thrill of indignation ran through- 
out the colonies. The engine of non-importation agree- 
ments, which had operated so powerfully against the Stamp 
Act, was now sjjeedily put in motion again, and organized 
associations, under the sanction of the assemblies, worked 
with increased energy. An agreement of the kind, pre- 
sented by Washington in the Virginia House of Burgesses, 
was signed by every member present; and the patriotism of 
the people was every where displayed by acts of self denial. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

Colonel Schuyler's position in the assembly was a 
d'.'licate one. His intimate personal friend, the governor, 
^vils now, from the necessities of his position as the repre- 
sentative of the crown, arrayed in hostility to the assem- 
bly and the people. Yet in this instance, as in all similar 
contingencies in his public life. Colonel Schuyler did not 
allow jM'ivate friendships to interfere with his duty to his 
country. He had espoused the cause of the colonists from 
a sincere conviction of its justice, and from the hour when 
he entered the assembly he was never known to swerve a 
line from the path of duty into which these convictions led 
him. 

From the moment when he entered upon his legislative 
career, he was fiiithful to the interests of the people. He 
saw with pain the waste of time exhibited each hour by 
the indolent and loose manner in which the business of the 
House was conducted, and he was particularly displeased 
with the confusion produced by spectators, and those who, 
by courtesy, were admitted to the floor of the assembly 
chamber. In order to lessen these evils, he introduced a 
resolution, on the 3d of November, containing the follow- 
ing rules and regulations for the maintenance of order on 
the floor : 

" No person whatever shall be adiiiitted into the Ilouse but such a3 
shall be introduced by a member thereof. 



1768.] REPUBLIC AN PRINCIPLES AT WORK. 231 

" No member to introduce more than one person at a time. 

" If any member shall desire the House to be cleared, the House to 
be cleared immediately. 

" In order that the House may not be disturbed, all persons admitted 
are to behave orderly and quietly, and that none presume to speak or 
whisper. And that if any man shall speak, wliisper, or stir out of his 
place, to the disturbance of the House, at any message or business of 
importance, Mr. Speaker is to present his name for the House to proceed 
against him." 

This resolution was debated and lost by a vote of thir- 
teen to twelve. 

On the 14th of November there was a serious riot in 
New York, growing out of political excitement, in which 
some of the Sons of Liberty were involved. On the 21st 
Governor Moore sent a message into the assembly, asking 
the House to support him in oftering a reward for the con- 
viction of the ringleaders. On the following day the House 
agreed to make provisions for paying a reward, which was 
immediately offered in a proclamation by the governor. 
Colonel Schuyler had been appointed, the previous day, 
chairman of a committee to prepare an address to the gov- 
ernor on that occasion. Always averse to disorders of every 
kind, in that address he uttered words of reprobation of 
the acts of his own political friends, loyal ones toward his 
King, and timely ones in behalf of the people. It was as 
follows : 

" We, his Majesty's most dutiful and loyal subject.^, the General As- 
sembly of the Colony of New York, having taken your Excellency's 
message of yesterday into our most serious consideration, beg leave to 
assure your Excellency that though we feel, in common with the rest of 
the colonies, the distresses occasioned by the new duties imposed by the 
Parliament of Great Britain, and the ill-pohcied state of the American 
commerce, yet we are far from conceiving that violent and tumultuous 
proceedings will have any tendency to promote suitable redress. 

" Conscious of the most sincere and affectionate loyalty to the King 
our sovereign, trusting to his paternal protection, and depending on the 
justice and equity of the British Parliatnent, we are preparing decent 



232 PHILIP S C H U y L R R . [^T. 35. 

and proper rcprosentations of the state of this colony, to be laid before 
his Majesty and the two TTousi^s of Parliament, with hopes of redress. 

" As an outrage committed against the laws, and a disturbance of the 
peace and good order of government, may expose this colony to disre- 
pute, and the inhabitants to a disappointment of their just expectations, 
we thank your Excellency for the opportunity you have given us to 
express our abhorrence of the late tumultuous proceedings in the city of 
New York, and for your intention to maintain the public tranquility. 

" It is with pleasure that we can assure your Excellency that these 
disorderly proceedings are, as appears to us, disapproved by the inhabi- 
tants in general, and are imputable only to the indiscretion of a very 
few pei-sons of the lowest class. 

" A riot committed in defiance of the magistrates, (whose vigilance on 
this, as on every occasion, to suppress turmoils has been very conspicu- 
ous,) and contrary to the known sense of the inhabitants, at this so criti- 
cal juncture, has justly demanded the animadversion of government, and 
we beg leave to assure your Excellency of our ready concurrence in 
every measure conducive to good order ; and that with this disposition 
we have resolved on a proper provision to enable your Excellency to 
fulfill the engagement you have entered into by your proclamation ; and 
thztt we will, on all occasions, endeavor to support the dignity and au- 
thority of government." 

As this address referred to the obnoxious acts of Par- 
liament in a tone of deprecation, some of the more loyal 
and obsequious members of the assembly voted to reject it, 
but the motion was lost by a vote of seventeen to five. 
This being considered a test vote on the feelings of the 
House, it was hailed as a triumph by the repubUcan 
party. 

Colonel Schuyler, was then appointed, with Mr. Ra- 
pelye, a committee to wait on the governor and ascertain 
when and where ho Avould receive the address. He ap- 
pointed the next afternoon as the time, and Fort George as 
the place, and at twelve o'clock on that day the address 
was presented to the governor by the hands of Colonel 
Schuyler. Its tone, though loyal and indicative of a desire 
to support order, had, nevertheless, such a republican ring 



1768.] RIGHTS A S S E K T E D . 233 

about it, that the governor was not officially very well 
pleased. 

On the 24th of the same month, Colonel Schuyler pre- 
sented a most important bill. It provided for raising three 
hundred pounds, currency, within the city and county of 
.Albany, for the purpose of procuring the translation into 
English of several of the Dutch records remaining in the 
clerk's office in that county, and to bind up and index the 
same. Also to bind up and index all other records remain- 
ing in the office. The bill was passed ten days afterward, 
and being carried to the council by Colonel Schuyler and 
Abraham Tenbroeck, it was concurred in by that body, 
and received Sir Henry Moore's signature. 

At the close of December the New York Assembly, in 
which was a large majority of Republicans, fully and 
warmly sympathizing with the popular movements in all 
the colonies concerning the constitutional rights of the 
Americans, adopted a series of bold and important resolu- 
tions, asserting " the rights and privileges of his Majesty's 
subjects within the colony of New York." There is rea- 
sonable circumstantial evidence to show that Colonel Schuy- 
ler was the author of those resolves. They asserted the 
right of petition as belonging equally to their body and the 
House of Commons ; that the colony lawfully and consti- 
tutionally possessed and enjoyed " an internal legislature 
of its own, in which the crown and people of the colony 
were constitutionally represented ; and that the power and 
authority of legislation could not lawfully or constitution- 
ally be suspended, abridged, abrogated, or annulled by any 
power, or authority or prerogative whatever." 

They boldly asserted their right to correspond and con- 
sult with other subjects out of the colony or in other parts 
of the realm, either individually or collectively, on any 



234 P II I T- I P SCHUYLER. [JEt. 35. 

matter wherein their rij;-lits or tnterests, or those of their 
constituents were or might be affected ; and acting ii])oii 
tliis conviction, they appointed a committee of correspond- 
ence, to report its transactions to subsequent meetings of 
the House. 

To the third resolution, which declared that the assem- 
bly had the right to such free correspondence, Captain De 
Lancey moved as an addition that " the action of Parlia- 
ment, suspending the Legislature of this colony, is a high 
infringement of the freedom of the inhabitants of this col- 
ony, and tends to deprive them of their natural and con- 
stitutional rights and ])rivileges." This addition was not 
adopted, for the avowed reason, that these views were suf- 
ficiently expressed in the original resolution. 

Petitions to the King, and to the Houses of Lords and 
Commons, were also i)repared, in which they pronounced 
the late acts, imposing duties " with the sole view and ex- 
j)ress purpose of raising a revenue, utterly subversive of 
their constitutional rights, because as they neither are," 
they said, " nor, from their peculiar circumstances, can be 
represented in Parliament, their property is granted away 
without their consent." 

These resolutions and petitions gave great official um- 
brage to Goveinor Moore, and at three o'clock in the after- 
noon of the 3d of January, 17G9, he summoned the assembly 
to attend him in the council chamber in the City Hall at 
once. They obeyed, when the governor told them that from 
the address concerning the riots, which they had presented 
to him on the 23d of November, he thought they were op- 
posed to all innnoderate measures, but the extraordinary 
r< solves which they had lately adopted, and the represen- 
tations of the state of the colony which they had proposed 
to send his Majesty, showed such intemperate heat, that 



1769.] NEW ELECTIONS. 235 

liis duty forbade his countenancing their conduct. His 
speech was mild and conciliatoiy, but firm, and was re- 
ceived with the most respectful attention. He concluded 
by declaring the assembly dissolved. 

On the day of the dissolution the governor issued writs 
for a new election, returnable on the 4th of February. 
The canvass was conducted with a great deal of warmth, 
especially in the city of New York. John Morin Scott, 
one of the most active of the Sons of Liberty, had, in the 
form of a petition, made grave charges against Mr. Jaun- 
cey, one of the city members of the assembly. He after- 
ward made an affidavit concerning matters contained in his 
petition, and attempted to get it before the House. On the 
7th of November a vote was taken in the House to have 
the affidavit read, when only Colonel Schuyler, his friend 
Tenbroeck, and Peter R. Livingston voted for it. There 
was an overwhelming majority against it ; and then an un- 
successful attempt was made to declare Scott's charges of 
corruption, et cetera, " frivolous and vexatious." The bit- 
terness engendered by these movements produced the fiercest 
partisanship at the election, and before ; and on the very 
day when the assembly was dissolved we find, by the 
record, that the House was " informed that Whitehead 
Hicks, mayor of the city of New York, and Elias Des- 
brosses, one of the aldermen, had bound over to the peace 
Jacob Walton and Philip Schuyler, Esquires." The assem- 
bly had just ordered that those officials should attend the 
House the next day, and show cause for their action against 
two members of that body, when the summons of Sir Henry 
and the dissolution of the assembly put an end to the 
matter. 

The elections were held late in January. On the 16tli, 
Peter R. Livingston, the representative for the manor of 



230 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [^T, 35. 

Livin2;ston in the last House, wrote as follows to Colonel 
Schuyler : 

" Since my last I have only to acquaint you that we are all hard at 
work. I think the prospect has a good aspect, and at all events Jaunc^y 
must go to the wall this time. T make no doubt, if we can keep the 
eople to the promise they have made, that Philip [Livingston] and 
Scott will be two, and if the opposite party push old John Cruger, I am 
of opinion that they will push one of the other two out. Our canvass 
stands well, but there will be a vast deal of cross-voting. The two they 
all pitch on, of our four, are Philip and Scott, which will put thera in. 
But there is a great deal in good management of the votes. Our people 
are in high spirits, and if there is not fair play shown there Avill be 
bloodshed, as we have by far the best part of the Bruisers on our side, 
who are determined to use force if they use any foul play. I have en- 
gaged from the first day, and am determined to see it out. Lewis Morris 
certainly comes for the Borough [Westchester]. Henry Holland is 
obliged to resign for Richmond, as young Browne and young Farmer 
set up in opposition to each other."* 

Livingston adds, in a postcript : " Miss Moore ran away 
with Captain Dickinson last Friday night. She has been 
married to him ever since last July." It was Henrietta 
Moore, daughter of the governor. Captain Dickinson had 
been stationed at Fort George for some time, and being 
ordered to another post, his young wife went with him. 

Livingston's predictions were not all verified. Li New 
York, " old John Cruger" was substituted for Philip Liv- 
ingston, who was chosen to represent the manor of Living- 
ston in place of the writer of the above letter. Nathaniel 
Woodhull, afterward president of the revolutionary con- 
vention of the province, was substituted for Miller, of 
Suffolk; Christoi)her Billop for Holland; and Lewis Morris 
for James De Lancey, as representative of the borough of 
Westchester. There were but few other changes. 

Colonel Schuyler was reelected by a very large majority. 
On account of his bold stand on the side of the colonists 
* Autograph letter. 



17G9.] PUBLIC APPRECIATION. 237 

in the pending dispute, a few opposed him. His freedom 
of speech in commenting upon the acts of public officers 
offended a few officials, and tliese,- of course, were among 
his opponents. Sir William Johnson took offense at re- 
marks reported to have been made by Colonel Schuyler 
resjjecting some matters connected with a late treaty with 
the Indians at Fort Stanwix ; and also at his alleged par- 
ticijjation in an attempt to pass a law to prevent members 
of the governor's council voting or otherwise intermeddling 
in party affairs, supposed by Sir William to be specially 
intended for himself. The baronet wrote a very courteous 
letter to Colonel Schuyler on the subject at the middle of 
January, frankly telling him that if what he had heard 
should not be disavowed before the election, he should not 
support him. 

The friendship between Colonel Schuyler and Governor 
Moore was not disturbed by their political differences. Their 
correspondence during the winter and spring of 1769 exhibits 
the same cordial feelings, personally, as before the dispute. 
They were both too generous and high minded to allow po- 
litical opinions to excite private enmity, and until the gov- 
ernor's death, the following autumn, he had not a warmer 
personal friend in the province than Colonel Schuyler. 

Letters containing generous greetings and congratula- 
tions on account of his reelection were received by Colonel 
Schuyler, and such confidence had leading men in the pro- 
vince in his qualities of statesmanship, that they turned to 
him as one of the best fitted of their public men for a 
contemplated special embassy to England. " Things are 
drawing to a crisis," wrote William Smith, in February. 
" I suspect we shall next be obliged to send home special 
agents as our last shift, and if the Judge (Robert R. Liv- 
ingston) gets in for Dutchess, and I had a voice, you and 



238 PniLIP SCHUYLER. [^T. 35. 

liiiii shuiikl l)(3 urged to see England in this momentous 
embassy."* But " the Judge" did not succeed in Dutchess, 
" owing to all the tenafits of Beekman and R. G. Living- 
ston voting against him ;"f the embassy was never under- 
taken, and Colonel Schuyler remained to serve his country 
in a far more useful field. 

The new assembly met on the 4tli of April. Colonel 
Schuyler took a leading position in the House at the com- 
mencement of the session, and ever afterward maintained 
it. He was appointed chairman of the usual committee to 
draw up a response to the governor's ojjening message. He 
prepared it, and it was adopted on the 8 th. After referring 
to the governor's speech, in which his excellency said that 
he should not burden them with much business, the address 
went on to say that the members of tlie assembly were the 
servants of the public, and were ready to attend to all bus- 
iness which the welfare of the colony required. Then re- 
feiTing to the governor's recommendation, pursuant to the 
command of ministers, that the agent to solicit the affairs 
of the colony in England should be appointed as in Vir- 
ginia, the Carolinas, Georgia, and the West Indies, by the 
governor, council, and assembly, and not by the assembly 
alone, the address boldly said : 

" We could wish that the mode which your Excellency recommends 
to this House, in the appointment of our agent for this colony, to reside 
at the court of Great Britain, was evidently calculated for the public 
benefit. To us it appears replete with difficulties and dangers, that, 
were they proper to be enumerated in our address, we humbly conceive 
your Excellency would coincide in sentiment with us that the mode 
your Excellency points out is by no means consistent with the duty of 
our station to enter into. You '11 pardon us, therefore, sir, if on this oc- 

* Autograph letter, February 11, 17 G9. 

f Autograph letter of Peter R. Livingston to Colonel Schuj-ler, February, 
17G9. 



1769.] FIRMNESS OF THE ASSEMBLY. 239 

casion we declare, with that freedom wliicli is the birthright of English- 
men, that it would be sacrificing the rights and diminishing the liberties 
of our constituents to adopt any other mode of appointment than that 
which has been practiced in this colony Tor many years past. We ac- 
knowledge that the mode which your Excellency recommends has 
taken place in this colony ; but the inconveniency has doubtless been as 
apparent to former assemblies as it is to this. For after having had an 
agent at the court of G-reat Britain for a few years, appointed by act 
of the governor, council, and general assembly, the house of represen- 
tatives have constantly declined to continue that mode of appointment, 
and have for many years uninteruptedly exercised the privilege of 
nominating him, which has been acquiesced in by the crown imme- 
diately, and by his several representatives, as governors of this colony, 
implicatively, amongst whom we have the satisfaction to include your 
Excellency. We should, therefore, be extremely sorry that any diffi- 
culties should, in future, arise in transacting the aliairs of this colony by 
an agent constituted as ours is." *' 

111 reference to the governor's requisition for additional 
provisions for the support of British troops in the colony, 
the address plainly said : 

" The sums that have been already granted for the support of his 
Miijesty's troops in barracks are very considerable. The repeated ap- 
plication of monies to that purpose would effectually ruin a colony, 
whose trade, by unnatural restrictions and the want of a paper cur- 
rency to supply the almost total deficiency of specie, is so umcli de- 
clined, and still declining, that its distresses, in a very short time, will 
become so great that it will be almost equally difficult to conceive as to 
describe them. In this unhappy situation, your Excellency's requisition 
for fresh aid demands our most serious consideration. 

" We thank your Excellency for the readiness you express to con- 
cur with us in any measure for promoting his Majesty's service and the 
advantage of the colony. We assure you, sir, that nothing will evcM- be 
more agreeable to this House than that a perfect harmony should cou- 
tiuue to subsist between the several branches of the Legislature." 

On presenting this response to the governor's address, 
Colouul Schuyler said : 

"As the repeated resolves and applications of the colonies, relative 
Lo Paihamentary taxation, and the embarrased state of our coumieroe, 



240 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [JEt. 35. 

and several other grievances, have not been attended with the success 
so ardently wished for, and so mutually conducive to the tranquillity of 
the British empire ; and as the growing distresses of our constituents 
loudly call for our most earnest attention to measures best calculated to 
preserve the union between Great Britain and her plantations, and re- 
storing a lasting harmony, founded in mutual affection and interest, I 
thoreCoie move tliat a day be appointed for taking the state of this col- 
ony into our most serious consideration, and for the appointment of 
special agents, of approved abilities and integrity, to be sent home, in- 
structed to exert their most strenuous efforts, in conjunction with sucli 
agents as the other colonies have sent, or may think proper to send, in 
soliciting the important affairs of this country at the court of Great 
Britain, and before the two Houses of Parliament during the course of 
the next session."* 

The subject of religious freedom had engaged much of 
the attention of Colonel Schuyler during the long years 
that the topic of episcopac}^ in America had been discussed, 
and which was then a prominent subject for disputation. 
He had been taught to regard hierarchies with disgust, and 
to yearn for a more liberal spirit among professing Chris- 
tians. With that full measure of common sense which 
always distinguished him, he perceived that all primary 
movements for the general benefit of society must be local 
and circumscribed, and if founded upon truth would as 
surely expand as the circles of waves go outward from the 
point where a pebble is dropped into the still water. With 
this view, and mingling with his ideas of spiritual needs 
the practical one of physical and social advancement, he 
finally brought forward in the assembly a proposition ex- 
pressive of a scheme which he had long been revolving in 
his mind. On the 26th of April he arose in his place, and 
said : 

" I move that as the cultivation of the extensive territory in the 
county of Albany will be highly beneficial to the crown and the colony; 
and as one of the best means to invite settlers will be to encourage the 

* Journal of the Assembly. 



17G9.J THE INDIAN TRADE. 241 

worship of God upon generous principles of equal indulgonco to loyal 
Protestants of every persuasion ; and as proprietors of large tracts are 
■willing to give small parcels of land for the support of ministers and 
schoolmasters to aid the new settlers, provided the same can be secured 
to the pious purposes of the donors ; that leave be given me to bring in 
a bill to enable every church and congregation of reformed Protestants 
in the county of Albany, without discrimination, to take and hold real 
estate to the value of a given amount per annum, for the support of the 
gospel among them." 

Leave was given, he brought in a bill, and it soon after- 
ward became a law. 

At the beginning of this session, a long memorial from 
"merchants, traders, and others concerned in or affected by 
the Indian trade," addressed to Jacob Teneyck and Philip 
Schuyler, representatives for the city and county of Al- 
bany, Jacobus Myndert, representative of the township of 
Schenectada, and Abraham Tenbroeck and Robert R. Liv- 
ingston, representatives respectively of the manors of Rens- 
selaer and Livingston, was presented, in which the memo- 
rialists, after expressing their satisfaction because the gov- 
ernor had recommended the passage of an act for regu- 
lating the Indian trade, set forth their views, based upon 
stated facts and conclusions. This memorial was referred 
to a committee of the assembly, of which Colonel Schuyler 
was chairman, and on the lOtli of May he presented a re- 
port on the subject, carefully drawn by his own hand. 
That report, from its completeness and valuable sugges- 
tions, excited a great deal of attention, and Colonel Schuy- 
ler and Mr. De Lancey were instructed to prepare and 
bring; in a bill for the reirulation of the Indian trade. 
That bill soon became a law, and the regulations adopted 
under it were in operation until the commencement of the 
Revolution, and the change in the relative position of all 
parties concerned was effected by the war, 

n 



242 PHILIP SCHUYLKR. [Mr. 35. 

The power of executive influence over the legislation of 
the colony had long been deplored, yet no one had nerve 
enough to take the evil by the horns and accomplish some- 
thing toward its arrest, until, on the 17th of May, Colonel 
Schuyler, after some preliminary remarks, said, " I move 
that it may be resolved by 'this House, that no member of 
this House, or that may hereafter be elected to sit herein, 
holding any place of honor, profit, or trust whatever under 
the crown, shall have a seat in this House, unless such 
member shall resign the same within six months next after 
such resolve (if any) shall be made." By a majority of 
only one the qm^stion on the motion was postponed. 

Ejsolutions were next passed asserting the sole right 
of imposing taxes to belong to the assembly ; also claim- 
ing fur the people the right of petition and of trial by 
jury ; all of which had been practically questioned by the 
parent government. It was also resolved, in consideration 
of ministerial action against the province of Massachusetts, 
that sending persons for trial to places beyond the high 
seas was " highly derogatory to the rights of British sub- 
jects." These movements, so bold, so indocile, if not re- 
bellious, mortified Governor Moore, (for he found himself 
absolutely weak in power, the assembly being supported 
by the people,) and on the 20th of May he prorogued 
the Legislature to the 7th of July. On the same day 
the assembly had, with very great reluctance, voted fif- 
teen hundred pounds for the support of the troops in the 
colony. 

At about this time the Massachusetts assembly con- 
vened, and resolved that it was inconsistent with their 
dignity and freedom to deliberate in the midst of an armed 
force, and that the presence of a military and naval arma- 
ment w:is a breach of privilege. They refused to enter- 



17G9.] THE COLONIES SYMPATHIZING. 243 

tain any subject except a redress of their grievances, and 
the usual business of granting supplies was passed by 
unnoticed. They solicited the governor to remove the 
troops from Boston to Castle William, in the harbor, 
and on his refusal they voted a petition to the King for 
his recall. 

Virginia, over whose councils Lord Botetourt, a kind- 
hearted, conciliatory, but vain and ambitious gentleman, 
now presided, gave generous support to Massachusetts in 
her hour of trial, and sent her words of greeting. These 
and other measures offended royal authority, and the 
governor, as in duty bound, dissolved the Virginia as- 
sembly. 

In other provinces like proceedings occurred, and in the 
summer of 1769, the antagonisms between the governors of 
the provinces and their respective Legislatures and people 
produced much confusion and excitement. To this, in 
New York, was added great irritation, when it was known, 
that a resolution of Lord North (who had succeeded Town- 
shend as chancellor of the exchequer), that a respectful pe- 
tition from the assembly of that province should not be 
received, had been passed by the Parliament. Had intelli- 
gence of this insult reached New York before the passage 
of the resolution to appropriate money for the troops had 
been acted upon, that measure would not have been pro- 
posed even. 

The British ministry, baffled in their attempts to draw 
a revenue from America by coercive measures, now contem- 
plated a resort to milder ones. The non-importation agree- 
ments had been generally adhered to faithfully, and their 
effects upon English commerce made them the instruments 
again in bringing ministers to their senses. The English 
merchants were really more injured by the acts of Parlia- 



244 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [^T. 35. 

ment than the Americans. The exports from England to 
America, which, in 1768, had amounted to $11,890,000, of 
which amount $G60,000 were the value of tea alone, fell, 
in 1769, to a little more than $8,000,000, the value of tea 
being only $220,000. The English merchants, therefore, 
joined their American brethren in petitions and remon- 
strances ; and under the direction of Lord North, the Earl 
of Hillsborough sent a circular letter to the colonies, inti- 
mating that the duties upon all articles enumerated in the 
late act would be taken off, as a measure of expediency 
(not of right), except on tea. This was unsatisfactory, 
for it was not the amount of the tax, but the principle in- 
volved, that caused the contention. The principle was the 
same, whether the duty was laid upon one commodity or 
on a dozen ; and so long as the Parliament assumed the 
right to tax the colonies without their consent, so long the 
Americas would dispute it. The year 1769 closed with- 
out any apparent hope for a reconciliation between G-reat 
Britain and her colonies, for warnings came with Hills- 
borough's circular letter exhorting the Americans to not 
put their " trust in princes," nor their creatures. 



CHAPTER XV. 

The assembly, prorogued until the 7th of July, did not 
meet until the 21st of November. There was a second 
prorogation until September, but at that time Governor 
Moore was seriously ill. His daughter, as we have seen, 
had left her home with her husband, Captain Jenkins, and 
in June his wife sailed for England to meet that daughter 
in London and to visit her own friends. Sir Henry's ill- 
ness was brief and fatal. He died on the 11th of Septem- 
ber, and the reins of government passed into the hands of 
Lieutenant Governor Golden for the third time. Sir Henry 
was beloved by many, and thoroughly respected by all par- 
ties ; and when Gaine's New York Mercury eulogized him 
for his liberal views, a correspondent, jealous of the de- 
ceased governor's character as a churchman, felt it neces- 
sary to deny that he ever attended any other than the 
Episco])al Church. 

During the recess Colonel Schuyler was frequently in 
New York. These visits, and his attentive correspondent 
and legal adviser, William Smith, kept him fully acquainted 
with current political measures, which the gazettes did not 
always reveal. Smith was especially vigilant in watching 
the movement for establishing episcopacy in the colonies. 
" The ministerial rebuff to the bishop scheme," he wrote 
in August, "animates the non-episcopal patriots, and has 
brought the tories to reason. The two archbishops are 



246 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [^t. 36. 

commanded to cease their solicitations, for that it was his 
Majesty's aim rather to heal than foment the distractions 
of the empire. Will you believe it ! all the sons of am- 
bition begin openly to disavow the project for an episco- 
pate."'"" 

On the 1st of November the leading Sons- of Liberty in 
New York, the most active of whom were Isaac Sears, 
Alexander McDougal, John Lamb, John Morin Scott, 
Caspar Wistar, and Samuel Broome, celebrated the anni- 
vcrsaiy of the day on Avhich the Stamp Act was to go into 
effect, but which witnessed its utter failure. Colonel 
Schuyler, who had gone to New York earlier than the 
opening of the assembly, to transact private business, was 
present at the dinner, and participated in the proceedings. 
The toasts drank on the occasion, as given in the published 
records of the celebration in the newspapers of the day, 
evince the spirit of those assembled. They drank to the 
King — his honest counselors — the great and general court 
of Massachusetts Bay, as first to promote the congress of 
1765 — the majority in that congress — the imtriotic House 
of Burgesses of Virginia, and all the Houses of Assembly 
on the continent who had nobly opposed arbitrary power. 
They also proposed, as a sentiment, that the last resolu- 
tions of Massachusetts Bay, and the Commons House of 
Assembly of South Carolina, in not granting supplies to 
his Majesty's troops, should be examples to be universally 
followed in the colonies. With a studied disrespect they 
made no allusion to Governor Colden, who, politically, was 
very obnoxious to the great majority of the people. 

Tlie assembly convened on the 21st of November, In 
his s])eoch, Lieutenant Governor Colden intimated that the 
obnoxious acts of Parliament concerning duties would be 

* Autograph letter. 



riGJ.] STRANGE COALITION. 247 

repealed ; asked for temperate action on the part of the 
Legislature, and informed them that in future the regula- 
tions of the Indian trade were to he left with the colonists. 
He then told them that the sum they had voted for the 
sup[)ort of the troops was exhausted, and asked fir furthei' 
sup})lies. To the latter request the House, in an address a 
few days afterward, replied : " In the present impoverished 
state of the colony, every requisition for a fresh supply will 
demand our most serious consideration." 

At this juncture an extraordinary coalition between 
Golden and the powerful De Lancey family appeared, and 
excited much suspicion among the patriots. Opposite po- 
ll I ical elements seemed suddenly to strangely assimilate, 
and the leaven of aristocracy, working with the loyalty 
excited by the lieutenant governor's assurances of the pro- 
bable repeal of obnoxious acts, began to work in the as- 
sembly. It was evident to sagacious minds that a scheme 
involving the liberties of the province, perhajjs of America, 
was maturing, and there was general alarm among the 
people. Suddenly a resolution for the emission of bills of 
credit — a measure which the true friends of the colony had 
earnestly desired — found favor with the coalition, notwith- 
standing it was in contradiction with acts of Parliament. 
It was supported with the plea that there was a great 
lack of specie, caused by the interdiction of traffic with 
the West Indies and the total absence of a paper currency, 
reducing values, preventing remittances to England, and 
obstructing provisions for the public service. 

An act was finally presented which provided for the 
issuing of bills of credit, on the security of the jirovince, 
to the amount of one hundred and twenty thousand pounds 
sterling, to be loaned to the people, the interest to be ap- 
plied to the defraying of the expenses of the colonial gov- 



248 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [Mt. 36. 

einraent. It was simply a project for a monster bank, 
without checks, and was doubtless intended by the lieu- 
tenant governor, and the Tories acting with him, to cheat 
the people into a compliance with the Mutiny Act, by the 
indirect method of applying the profits to that purpose, 
the support of the troops being a jiart of the " expenses of 
the colonial government." To still further cover this ob- 
scure intention, there was connected with the emission act 
a provision for granting one thousand pounds from the col- 
onial treasury, and one thousand more to be issued under 
the act, to be applied to the support of the troops. The 
resolutions connected with the incipient steps in this meas- 
ure passed the House, in committee of the whole, by only 
one majority. 

The leaders of the popular party raised a cry of alarm 
while this measure was pending. On Sunday, the 16th of 
December, a hand-bill was found distributed over the town, 
headed, "To the betrayed inhabitants of the City and Col- 
ony of New York;" SltA signed "A Son of Liberty." It 
denounced the proposal to issue bills of credit as a decep- 
tive covering to some wicked design not likely to be accep- 
table to the King. It declared that the proposition to 
grant supplies to the troops unqualifiedly was an acknowl- 
edgment of the right to exact such subsidies, and a virtual 
approval of all the revenue acts ; and that the scheme was 
intended to divide and distract the colonies. It pointed 
the assembly to the firm stand taken by other colonies, and 
exhorted them to imitate their examples. It hinted at a 
corrupt combination, the effect of the acting governor's cu- 
pidity and the ambitious designs of a powerful family ; 
called upon the assembly to repudiate the act concocted by 
the coahtion; and closed with a summons for the people to 
assemble in '' the fields" (City Hall Park), to express theii 



1769.1 A TRUE PATRIOT'S VOTE. 249 

opinions and insist upon their representatives in the assem- 
bly joining the minority, and in the event of their refusal, 
to send tidings thereof to every assembly on the continent, 
iind publish them to the world. 

This hand-bill appeared, as we have observed, on Sun- 
day, and on Monday not less than fourteen hundred people 
gathered around the Liberty Pole, where they were ha- 
rangued by John Lamb, a native of the city, an active Son 
of Liberty, and then thirty-four years of age. By a vote 
they unanimously condemned the action of the assembly. 
A committee of seven, appointed for that purpose, bore 
their sentiments to that body, who, after receiving them 
respectfully, set about ferreting out the author or authors 
of the hand-bill. The Speaker laid the offensive document 
before the assembly, and Mr. De Lancey moved that the 
sense of the House should be taken " whether the said 
paper was not an infamous and scandalous libel." When 
the vote was taken, twenty of the pliant assembly voted 
that it was so, and only one member voted No. That 
member was Philip Schuyler. He boldly faced the 
gathering storm, and by his vote rebuked, in a most em- 
phatic manner, the cringing cowardice of those of his com- 
peers who had stood shoulder to shoulder with him in 
former trials; and proclaimed to the world his belief in the 
truth of the allegations which the assembly pronounced "a 
false, seditious, and infamous libel." The assembly then 
resolved that the lieutenant governor should offer a reward 
of £100 for the discovery of the author oi" authors of the 
handbill. 

This action of the assembly was denounced in another 
handbill, signed " Legion," in which the " base, inglorious 
conduct of the assembly," in abandoning the interests of 
the people, was spoken of in very strong terms. This, also, 



250 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [^Et. 36. 

was voted to be libellous, and the lieutenant governor was 
authorized to offer £50 for the discovery of the author. 
After this, further provision for the support of the troops, 
to the amount of £2,000 per annum, was voted. 

On the same day Colonel Schuyler nominated Edmund 
Burke as agent in England for the colony of New York, 
but the appointment was not made until December, 1770. 
Colonel Schuyler also asked leave to bring in a bill to pro- 
vide for the election of representatives by secret ballot in- 
stead of open vote. It was granted, but the ultra royalists 
defeated the measure. From that time Colonel Schuyler 
was the acknowledged leader of the opposition in the as- 
sembly, and the special favorite of the more conservative 
patriots, while the common people, regarding him at a dis- 
tance, contemplated him with reverence. 

Mr. Lamb, who harangued the people, at the Liberty 
Pole, was suspected of being the author of the offensive 
handbill, and was cited to appear before the assembly. He 
was soon discharged, for the guilt was (ixcd by the fright- 
ened printer upon Captain Alexander M'Dougall, an ener- 
getic Scotchmen, from " the lone Hebrides," a sailor, and 
who afterward became an active general in the Revolution. 
He was arrested on a charge of contempt, and refusing to 
make any acknowledgment, or to give bail, was cast into 
prison, where he remained about fourteen weeks, when he 
was arraigned for trial. With the true martyr spirit, he 
said, " I rejoice that I am the first to suffer for liberty 
since the commencement of our glorious struggles." 

" The imprisoned sailor," says Hamilton, " was deemed 
the true type of an imprisoned commerce. To soften the 
rigors of his confinement, to evince a detestation of its au- 
thors, and in his person to plead the public wrongs, became 
a duty of patriotism. On the anniversary ol" the repeal of 



17 70 ] A ^ HONORED MARTYR, 251 

the Stamp Act, liis liealtli was drank with honors, and the 
meeting, in procession, visited him in prison. Ladies of dis- 
tinction daily tlironged there. Popular songs were written 
and sung under prison bars, and emblematic swords were 
worn. His name was upon every lip. The character of 
each individual conspicuous in the great controversy be- 
came a subject of couvLneut, and the applause which fol- 
lowed the name of Schuyler gave a new value to the 
popularity his firmness had acquired."'"" 

After M'Dougall had suffered an imprisonment of more 
than three months, a grand jury was packed by the gov- 
ernment. De Lancey, the leader of the loyalists, was pre- 
sent at their sitting, and they found a bill of indictment. 

" They have in'licted M'Dougall," WiOiam Smith wrote to Schuyler, 
on the 29th of April, 1770, "and mean to ruin him if they dare dis- 
oblige the people. He made a grand show yesterday when he was 
brought down to plead — an immense multitude. He spoke with vast 
propriety, and av.ed and astonished many who wish him ill, and added, 
I believe, to the number of his friends. The attorney will not try him 
till October, though he pressed hard for a determination in July. I 
doubt whether it will ever happen, unless the spirits of the people flag, 
of which at present there is no sign."t 

M'Dougall gave bail at this time, and on the 13th of 
December following he was again arraigned before the 
House, To the question whether he was the author of the 
handbill signed " A Son of Liberty," he replied, " That as 
the grand jury and the assembly had declared the paper a 
libel he could not answer ; that as he was under prosecu- 
tion in the supreme court, he conceived it would be an 
infraction of justice to punish twice for one offense ; but 

* History of the Republic of the United States, as traced in the Writings of 
Alexander Hamilton, i. 35. By John 0. Hamilton. 
t Autog-aph letter 



252 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [.Ex. o7. 

that he would not deny the authority of the House to 
punish for a breach of privilege when no cognizance was 
taken of it in another court." His enemies were highly 
offended by this answer, and it was declared a contempt. 
He was ably defended by George Clinton, an active member 
of the House, but he was again cast into prison, where he 
remained until near the close of the session, in February, 
1771, when he was released, and was never afterward mo- 
lested. The indictment for libel was never tried. 

The loyalist party gradually gained the ascendancy in 
the Legislature in 1770 and 1771; and the soldiery, regard- 
ing the voting of supplies for their support as a triumph 
of the crown, became exceedingly insolent. They resolved 
to cut down the Liberty Pole, and on the night of the 16th 
of January, 1770, at about midnight, a band of them is- 
sued from the ban-acks, prostrated the mast, sawed it into 
pieces, and piled it in front of Montagnie's door, where the 
Sons of Liberty usually assembled. The perpetrators were 
discovered before their work was finished. The bell of St. 
George's chapel, in Beekman street, was rung, and at dawn 
full three thousand indignant people stood around the 
stump of the Liberty Pole. There, in the grey of early 
morning, the Sons of Liberty, by resolution, declared their 
rights, and their determination to maintain them. 

For three days the most intense excitement prevailed 
in the city. In frequent affrays with the citizens the sol- 
diers were generally the losers ; and in a sharp conflict on 
Golden Hill (Cliff street between Fulton street and Maiden 
Lane,) several of the troops were disarmed and severely 
beaten. Few persons were wounded, none were killed. 
Quiet was restored. The people erected another Liberty 
Pole upon private ground purchased for the purpose. This 
was weU defended by iron bands and rivets full one half itr 



1770.] THE BOSTON MASSACRE. 253 

length, and successfully resisted another attempt of the 
soldiers to cut it down, in March. Early in May the troops 
went off to Boston, and the greatest cause for public irri- 
tation was thus removed. The Liberty Pole remained un- 
disturbed until the British army took possession of the 
city in the autumn of 1776, when it was cut down by 
order of Cunningham, the infamous provost marshal, who, 
it was said, had once been severely whipped at its foot. 

In Boston the troops and the people were at variance 
continually ; and finally, on the evening of the 5th of 
March,, there was an o})en collision, A sentinel was as- 
saulted with ice and other missiles, and the commander of 
the military guard went with a file of soldiers to defend 
him. The mob dared the soldiers to fire, while they hurled 
missiles at them. One soldier, who received a severe blow, 
fired, and six of his companions followed his 'examiile. 
Three persons were killed, and five wei'e dangerously 
wounded. The bells rang out an alarm, and in less than 
one hour several thousands of people were in the streets. 
A terrible scene of blood would have ensued had not Gov- 
ernor Hutchinson assured the people that right and justice 
should be vindicated in the morning. The troops were re- 
moved to Castle William, and the " Boston massacre," as 
it was called, became a theme of thrilling interest to the 
patriots throughout the land. 

On the day of the " massacre," Lord North, then the 
prime minister, proposed to Parliament a repeal of all 
duties imposed by th.e act of 1767, except that upon tea. 
In April an act to that effect was passed, and as tea was a 
luxury, the ministry supposed that the Americans would 
not object to the small duty laid upon that article. That 
duty was retained merely as an assertion of the right to 
tax the colonies. That, as we have said, was the bone of 



2;> 1 r II I L I p s c ri u y l e r . [jet. 37. 

oiitcntion. Thi? principle involved was the topic of dis- 
I'Ute. 

The non-imporicition agreements were now brought to 
br^ar upon this one exceptiid article alone, and the people 
were as strenuous in the defense of their principles, with 
only this item for complaint, as when they had a dozen. 

The merchants of New York, up to this time, had been 
faithful to the non-importation league, and would have 
continued so but for a blow received from a quarter least 
suspected. The Sons of Liberty had formed a general 
committee of one hundred, and a vigilance committee of 
fit'ty, who were to have a special care of the public move- 
ments of the patriots, and particularly to see that the re- 
quirements of the non-im])ortation league were observed. 
The former connnittee, like the assembly, became leavened 
with Toryism, and when, on the 3d of May, 1770, at a 
meeting of the citizens of New York, a manifesto against 
alleged violations of the league in Newport, Rhode Island, 
was adopted, the Committee of One Hundred disavowed it. 
This was the first open evidence of defection. Some of the 
more eminent of the Sons of Liberty immediately withdrew 
from the committee. The Vigilance Committee denounced 
their faltering compeers, and the patriots of New England 
uttered indignant protests. All was in vain. The disaffec- 
tion of tiie conmiittee had si)read among the merchants at 
large, and on the 9th of July, 1770, the Committee of One 
Hundred resolved upon the resumption of importations of 
every thing but tea, and issued a circular letter, justifying 
their course. It was received with scorn, and j)ublicly torn 
and scattered to the winds, in the New England capital ; 
and the sturdier patriots of Philadel})hia said, " The old 
Liberty Pole of New York ought to be transferred to this 



1771.] CKINGING LOYALTY. 255 

city, as it is no longer a rallying point for the votaries of 
freedom at liome." 

Toward the close of August the leaden statue of the 
King arrived, and was set up in the Bowluig Green with 
a great parade of loyalty. The marble statue of Pitt was 
also erected, hut with for less enthusiasm than it was voted; 
and every day there were new manifestations of a luke- 
warmness in the republican feelings of the colony, as seen 
upon the surface. 

Toward the close of October, John Murray, Lord Dun- 
more, arrived as the successor of Sir Henry Moore, and was 
received with great cordiality. He l)rought the assent of 
the Kin"; to the bill authorizing^ the emission of a colonial 
paper currency ; also intelligence of a kindling war between 
Great Britain and Spain. In his inaugural message he al- 
luded to the latter, and expressed his coiifidence that the as- 
sembly would " please his Majesty by their loyalty during 
the anticipated contest." His lordship closed his speech with 
the oft-repeated admonition of the royal governors, that sup- 
plies for the troops would be wanting. The assembly was 
exceedingly complaisant, and Dunmore had the gratification 
of seeing evidence of a pliant and loyal Legislature, by which 
he would be saved the perplexities that had afflicted his pre- 
decessors for almost half a century. 

Dunmore remained at New York only about nine 
months, when he was succeeded by Sir William Tryon, an 
Irish baronet, who for a few years had exercised the most 
annoying petty tyranny as the governor of North Carolina. 
The assembly was now thoroughly purged of the radical 
features of republicanism. They complimented the retir- 
ing governor, who had been transferred to Virginia; and in 
a most cringing address, written by Captain Oliver De 
Lancey, in reply to Tryon's uK^.ssage at the opening of the 



256 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [^T. 39. 

assembly, on the 7tli of January, 1772, welcomed the new 
chief magistrate. This address appears the more abject 
when we reflect that the base character of Tryon, whose 
outrageous conduct had stirred up the people of North 
Carolina to actual rebellion, was well known, and every 
true friend of the province despised him and deplored his 
advent. 

" Our most gracious sovereign," said the address, " having been 
please :i to confer the command of his dominion of Virginia on our late 
worthy governor, the Earl of Dunmore, who so justly merited our af- 
fection and applause, we are all filled with the warmest sentiments of 
gratitude for his Majesty's paternal goodness, in appointing to represent 
his r jyal person a gentleman universally esteemed for his amiable char- 
acter, distinguished for his attachment to the principles of our liappy 
constitution, and from his long residence in America, acquainted Avilh 
tlie true interests of the colonies. 

" The respectable light in which your excellency was held among 
the people who lately experienced the sohd advantages of your protec- 
tion aflbrds us a pleasing presage of being equally happy under your 
administration. Preferring the calls of duty and the public good to your 
own ease, health, and every other consideration, you generously ex- 
posed your person to fatigue and the most imminent dangers, and by 
your gallant behavior and prudent conduct rescued a distracted country 
fror". anarchy and conl'usion, and restored to it the blessings of peace 
and tranquility, by suppressing an insurrection, which, by its pernicious 
example, might have caused the like disorders in other parts of his Ma- 
jesty'u American dominions, to the destruction of all law and govern- 
ment. This important service, while it gives luster to your character, 
recommends you to the favor of our most gracious sovereign, and enti- 
tles you to public gratitude and approbation, has unavoidably prevented 
your excellency from paying an earlier obedience to the King's com- 
mands and the dictates of your own wishes in repairing to this colony." 

During the years 1770 and 1771, Colonel Schuyler was 
almost continually aflHicted with the gout, and he seldom 
appeared in the assembly. Yet it did not prevent the ex- 
ercise of his hospitality in his houses at Albany and Sara- 
toga — the former his place of residence in the winter, the 
latter his better loved dwelling place nearly nine of the 



1771.] GKEEN MOUNTAIN BOYS. 257 

other months of the year. Numerous letters of that period 
show how freely his friends gave notes of .introduction to 
him, commending sometimes utter strangers to his courtesy 
and hospitality. 

During these two years the dispute between the authori- 
ties of New York and the inhabitants of the New Hamp- 
shire Grants waxed hotter than at any other period. A 
crisis approached. Officers of the law in behalf of New 
York and the determined people of the Grants met face to 
face. A resident of the Grants was taken to Albany for trial 
in a suit of ejectment. The decision in his case was to effect 
all others, and Ethan Allen was- employed, as the agent of 
the people, to attend the court and defend their claims. Tlie 
whole aifair seemed to have been prejudged, and presented 
a solemn farce, for some of the New York judges and many 
of the lawyers were connected with the speculators. The 
verdict was, of course, in favor of the New York com- 
plainants. 

i^llen was exceedingly indignant. The sun went down 
upon his wrath, and in the morning it was not abated. 
The attorney general at first tried to flatter the sturdy 
pioneer. He then advised him to go home and persuade 
his friends to make the best terms possible with their New 
York landlords; and concluded his exhortation by suggest- 
ing that New York had might on her side. That suggestion 
thoroughly aroused the sleeping lion of Allen's nature, and 
in his accustomed enigmatical way he thundered out, "The 
gods of the valleys are not the gods of the hills \" " What 
do you mean ?" exclaimed the startled attorney general. 
"Come to Bennington," said Allen, with a frown, and in 
a deep undertone, " and you shall understand it." 

From that time reconciliation without ample justice 
was out of the question. The people of the Grants resolved 



258 PHILIP SCnUTLER. [^Et. 3S. 

to defend their rights " by force" they said, " as law and 
pistice were denied them." They assembled in convention 
and made Allen colonel commandant of the district. He 
became the leader of an organized armed resistance, and 
was a marked man. The authorities of New York regarded 
him as a traitor, and offered a reward for his apprehension. 
The people of the Grants regarded him as a patriot, and 
kept him safely in the arms of their protection. The New 
York autliorities declared him an outlaw, while his own 
people leaned upon him as their noblest champion. So 
matters went on, the dangers of civil war becoming more 
and more imminent. The quarrel had reached the point 
of bloody encounters, Avhen the kindling flame of the great 
Revolution called the attention of the contestants to a 
broader and more significant field of conflict, in which the 
people of New York and of the Grants stood shoulder to 
Bhoulder as brethren. 

In the progress of these disputes Colonel Schuyler still 
took a great interest. His sense of justice made him 
discriminate between right and wi-ong, notwithstanding 
his indignation against the people of the Grants, who 
had taken law into their own hands ; and, as in the case 
of the refractory tenants of Van Rensselaer, in after years, 
he recommended moderation, at the same time he coun- 
seled firmness. 

The boundary line between New York and Massachu- 
setts was still an unsetikd question, and in the autumn of 
1771, Colonel Schuyler, accompanied by his wife, went to 
Boston in a semi-official capacity to confer with the au- 
thorities there upon the subject. He found matters in 
such a disturbed state that it was difficult to ascertain 
w^here real authority might be found. However, as Hutch- 
inson was governor, with him he had a long and friendly 



17TI.J CONCILIATION. 259 

interview, and came back with a proposition to Governor 
Tryon which seemed to promise a salutary result. Soon 
afterward William Smith, who was the leading member of 
Tryon's council, wrote to Colonel Schuyler, saying : " Mr. 
Tryon has taken strong hold on the Boston controversy on 
your motion. I have drawn up a letter for him to Hutch- 
inson, and proposed to divide the stakes between the two 
ultimate proposals at New Haven." 

In the same letter Mr. Smith introduces the Reverend 
Mr. Drummond as Schuyler's " spiritual guide at Sarah- 
togue," who, he said, bore ample testimonials of worth. 
" I think it a good circumstance," saj^s Smith, " that he 
was ordained in Scotland, for you know that national es- 
tablishment is closely connected with that of the Nether- 
lands." With an eye to temporal benefits. Smith continues, 
" Mr. Drummond is said to be a good scholar, and may be 
useful to your boys. I think he will be so to the public, 
as he can promote emigration from divers parts of North 
Britain." He concludes by saying, " If you think him good 
enough for the illuminated tenants of Sarahtogue, you '11 
find him liberal in his sentiments and yet orthodox in his 
life, which is the best sort of orthodoxy."* 

Colonel Schuyler was present at the opening of the ses- 
sion, on the 7th of January, 1772, and on the 16th he 
moved for leave to bring in a bill to vacate the seat of any 
member unless he had resided six months previous to the 
election within the district which he represented. This 
subject had been introduced in the spring of 1769, when, 
by resolution, Philip Livingston was " dismissed from fur- 
ther attendance uj)on the House" as representative of Liv- 
ingston's Manor, because he resided in the city of New 
York. A petition of the freeholders of the Manor set 

* Autograph letter. 



260 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [JEt. 39 

forth that non-residents represented boroughs in England ; 
that twenty-one cases like the present might be found re- 
corded in the colonial journals ; and that the manor of 
Livingston had been thus represented for fifty-three years. 
It also appeared that three dismissals of the kind had oc- 
curred, under the management of party tactics, namely, of 
William Nicoll and Dirck Wessels, in 1701, and of Edward 
Holkmd, in 1745. The resolution was passed by a large 
majority, and Livingston was deprived of his seat. Schuy- 
ler voted against it. He approved of the principle of the 
resolution, but disliked partial legislation. Now he intro- 
duced a general bill for accomplishing the same effect. 

The assembly, at the session of 1772, were as pliant as 
ever, and sujiplies for the troops Avere freely voted. In 
February the governor, in a brief message, refused to re- 
ceive a salary from the colonial treasury. This was pur- 
suant to instructions received from ministers. Parliament, 
by a special act, having made the governors and judges in 
the colonies independent of the people in this resj^ect. 
The Massachusetts assembly at once denounced the act as 
a bribe to the governors to oppose the people whenever or- 
dered to do so by the crown. In other colonial assemblies, 
also, the act was denounced, but there being a majority of 
loyalists in that of New York, no action was taken in the 
matter. On the contrary, a special mark of affection was 
shown to Tryon. A division of Albany county being made 
at that time, the new territory, taken from its western fron- 
tier, was called Tryon county, in honor of the governor. 
The first representatives in the assembly from the new 
ccunty were Guy Johnson (son of Sir William), and Col- 
onel Hendrick Frey. 

On the 24th of March the assembly was prorogued by 
the governor until the 4th of May following. By procla- 



1772.] ALMOST A DUEL. 261 

mations it was prorogued from time to time, and did not 
meet again until the 5th of January, 1773. The gov- 
ernor's speech on that occasion related chiefly to the terri- 
torial boundaries; and the response drawn up by De Lancey 
was only an echo to it, except an assurance that in the col- 
ony there was an increasing attachment to the governor's 
person and family. 

Among Colonel Schuyler's most intimate friends in 
early life was Henry Van Schaack, who had served with 
him in the campaign of 1755 as his lieutenant. When 
the war of the Revolution broke out, Mr. Van Schaack 
was a Loyalist. For several years he and Colonel Schuyler 
had differed in theu' political opinions. Their personal 
friendship appears to have been undisturbed, however, until 
in 1772, when a misunderstanding came very nearly causing 
a duel between the two friends. It seems that Colonel 
Schuyler had reported to Colonel Guy Johnson (upon er- 
roneous information,) that Major Van Schaack had at- 
tempted to influence the action of officers who had been 
apjDointed to summon a jury in an important land trial 
before the supreme court, in which controversy the two 
gentlemen were probably interested. Van Schaack and 
Schuyler were of about the same age, and much alike in 
disposition. They were men of high spirit and marked 
energy of character, entertaining exalted perceptions of 
personal honor, and each jealous of his reputation. The 
former was somewhat impetuous in temper, and the latter 
was described as " hot, violent, and indiscreet," when his 
reputation was assailed or his honor impugned. 

On being informed of Schuyler's report to Johnson, 
Van Schaack, conscious of his integrity, indignantly de- 
manded of his accuser his authority for the aspersions, and 
a personal explanation. Schuyler, with his usual frank- 



262 PHILIP SCHUYLEPv, [yEt. 39 

ness, generosity, and sense of justice, sent him a letter from 
Saratoga, in which he explained the matter and asked Van 
Schaack's pardon. He concluded by saying, " Be assured, 
sir, that I shall never decline a personal explanation (in 
whatever sense you may use the word) that you may think 
proper to call on me for. You know where to find me, and 
I shall be at Albany about the 25th of next month." 

Although the friendship of these gentlemen was inter- 
rupted fur several years by conflicting interests in regard to 
land iiatents, and the difference in their political sentiments 
during the Revolution, it was renewed immediately after 
the war, and continued through life.* 

So gentlemanly and dignified were the manners of 
Schuyler in public and })rivate, that, notwithstanding his 
firm hostility to the anti-republican measures with which 
he was called from time to time to combat, he was on terms 
of the most intimate personal friendship with his political 
adversaries. In May, 1772, we find Governor Tryon, writ- 
ing to him fi'om Fort George, in New York, saying : 

" Mrs. Tryon desires rne to present her compliments to you, and to 
inform you that she accepts the invitation of becoming your guest while 
at Albany. As you are well acquainted with the passage of vessels to 
Albany, and know in which I can be best accommodated, I must give 
you the tiouble to employ one for me, and to be here time enough to 
land me at Albany toward the end of June."t 

The chief object of Governor Tryon's visit northward 
was to hold a council with some of the Mohawk Indians, 
who had made complaints of the conduct of white people, 
who, it was alleged, had defrauded them of their lands. 
The conference was held at Johnson Hall, on the 28th of 

* MS. " Aftmoirs of (he Life of Henry Van Schaak, an officer in the war 
which subjerlcd (he. Canadas to the Britii<h crorun; a. Loyalist in the American 
Revolution, and a Gcidleman of the Old School" by II. C. Van Sobaack. 

f Autop^ropli letter. 



1773.] LAND SPECULATORS. tlGS 

July, and the savages in atteud;ince were mostly Ct'najo- 
haries, Tryon was accompanied by his secretary, Colonel 
Edmund Fanning, (who had made himself very obnoxious 
in North Carolina,) and Oliver De Lancey. 

Whatever professions the governor may have made to 
the Indians, he seemed perfectly willing to sanction all 
purchases of land, by fair or foul means, we may imagine, 
and did not appear less " The Great Wolf" to them, if 
they understood him, than he did to their red brethren of 
Western Carolina, who gave him that name because he ap- 
peared so voracious. In a familiar letter to William Duer, 
in September following. Colonel Schuyler said : 

" Vast Indian purchases have been made. Governor Tryon's fees, 
alone, will exceed £22,000 ; a good summer's work that. A large pre- 
mium is offered by the land jobbers at New York to any ingenious ar- 
tist who shall contrive a machine to waft them to the moon, should 
Ferguson, Martin, or any eminent astronomer assert that they had dis- 
covered large vales of fine land in that luminary. I would apply to be 
a commissioner for granting the laud, if I knew to whom to apply 
for it."* 

Governor Tryon was absent in the Indian country about 
a month, and during that time his wife, who was a relative 
of the Earl of Hillsborough, was the guest of Colonel 
- Schuyler and his family at Albany and Saratoga. In a 
letter to the Earl after his return, Tryon spoke of the con- 
tentedness of the settlers at Johnstown, Burnet's Field, 
and the German Flats, who were " not less seemingly 
pleased with the presence of their governor than he was 
with them," and said, "I heartily wish the eastern parts 
of the province [referring to the New Hampshire Grants,] 
were as peaceably settled. "f 

Colonel Schuyler was in good health during the session 
of 1773, and v/as very active in his official duties. In 

* Autograph letter, September 21, 1773. f Autoj^raph letter. 



264 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [^t. 40. 

January we find him one of the committee to examine 
into the condition of the colonial treasury accounts. Early 
in February he presented a bill in relation to the commis- 
sion for settling the boundary lino between New York and 
New Jersey, then in dispute. On the day of its passage 
(February 5,) he offered a bill, as a substitute for another 
drawn by a committee " to remedy the evils to which the 
colony was exposed from the quantities of counterfeit 
money introduced into it." He projiosed to hav^e plates for 
the paper currency of the colony engraved in a manner that 
should be difficult to counterfeit. He suggested as a device 
" an eye in a cloud — a cart and coffins — three felons on a 
gallows — a weeping father and mother, with several small 
children — a burning pit — human figures poured into it by 
fiends, and a label with these words : ' Let the name of the 
counterfeiter rot,'" etc., and such other additions as they 
might think proper : 44,000 to be struck ofiP on thin paper, 
" to be i^asted, glued, or affixed to each of the bills emitted 
by the act" for the purpose. He proposed that the en- 
graver and printer should make oaths that the plates had 
not been out of their hands ; the j^lates, when the printing 
should be done, to be sealed up and given to the treasurer 
of the colony ; the treasurer to give the commissioners a 
receipt for the paper copies struck off ; no bill to be con- 
sidered genuine without such paper upon its back ; com- 
missioners to take oath of fidelity ; and a reward to be 
given for the detection of counterfeiters. This bill became 
a law, and was effectual in restraining rogues from com- 
mitting a crime whose penalty was death. 

Later in February the -subject of the dispute between 
New York and the New Hampshire Grants was brought 
before the House, in considering a petition from a resident 
of the latter territory. A committee was appointed, with 



1773.] REPORT ON BOUNDARIES. 265 

Colonel Schuyler as chairman, to prepare a full statement 
of "the just rights of New York in the matter." Schuy- 
ler's associates were Mr. De Noyelles and Crean Bush, both 
warm loyalists. The task of preparing the statement was 
laid upon Colonel Schuyler, and three weeks afterward they 
made a report which excited a great deal of attention be- 
cause of its fullness and remarkable perspicuity. It first 
examined the whole matter historically, citing authorities, 
etc. The claims of Connecticut and Massachusetts were 
next examined, and having, as the report averred, " estab- 
lished the right of New York to the disputed territory 
west of the Connecticut river," they examined " the extra- 
ordinary claim of New Hampshire." This statement occu- 
pies no less than twenty-six printed pages of the published 
journal of the House. It was sent to Edmund Burke, the 
agent of the colony in England, and a few months later 
Governor Tryon was cited to ajjpear before the King and 
his council, to give information respecting the boundary 
troubles. 

It was this statement, drawn up by Colonel Schuyler, 
more than anything else, that excited bitter feelings toward 
him among the New England people, which, as we have 
already observed, was made so manifest in the war for in- 
dependence. 

12 



CHAPTER XVI. 

In the summer of 1773 the county of Charlotte was 
formed. It embraced all of northern New York above 
Albany county as then divided, eastward of the new county 
of Tryon ; and it was the design of Colonel Schuyler's 
friends to make him the first judge of that district, with 
two associates. Political intrigue seems to have thwarted 
this design. In July Councillor Smith wrote to him : 

" We have organized tlie county of Charlotte. It was left to Oliver 
[De Lanccy] to speak to Colonel Rcid and others, and form a list of jus- 
tices, for it was long ago settled in council that the judges should be 
yourself, Skene, and Duer, in the order I mention them. I learnt from 
Reid that he, Oliver, and Duer waited upon the governor with a list not 
only 0? justices but of judges, and that Skene was put at the head of it. 
Oliver dictated this order to Duer, who held the pen. But all is set 
right I believe. The governor was displeased with this liberty, and de- 
clared that you would not serve out of the place first designated and 
known abroad. All this is entre nous, but you will get it from Duer. 
I told Fanning that in my opinion Skene should be last, if named at all. 
You see the man, after all his professions of friendship."* 

De Lancey's will prevailed. Schuyler, as the governor 
predicted, would not take a subordinate station upon the 
bench, and he was left in the field of politics, untrameled 
by official restraints, to serve his country more profitably 
than if wearing the mantle of judicial dignity. 

It was at this period that fuel was added to the kind- 
ling fires of the Revolution by the folly of the British gov- 

* Autograph letter, July 5, 1773. 



1773.] ANTI-TEA PARTY. 267 

ernment. Early in 1773 a new thought upon taxation en- 
tered the brain of Lord North. The East India Company, 
a powerful monopoly of more than a hundred and fifty 
years duration, felt most seriously the operation of the 
non-importation associations in America, by which tea, the 
trade in which belonged exclusively to the company, was 
deprived of a market in the American colonies. They 
found themselves burdened with more than seventeen mil- 
lions of pounds of tea in their warehouses in England. 
Unable to pay their annual bonus to the crown, or their 
private debts, the company sought relief in a permission to 
ship their teas, free of duty, wherever they could find a 
market, promising the government an export duty more 
than equal in amount. The stupid ministry could not 
perceive, or would not embrace, the opportunity now of- 
fered to quiet America and add to the exchequer ; but, 
fearing such concession might be considered submission 
to " rebellious subjects," gave the company permission to 
ship their teas free of export duty. As this would make 
tea cheaper in America than in England, it was thought 
the colonists would not object to paying a small import 
duty of three pence a pound. But the proposition increased 
the indignation of the colonists. They saw the parent gov- 
ernment making concessions of a pecuniary nature to a 
vast commercial monopoly, while spurning the appeals of 
a nation in behalf of a great principle. 

The East India Company were as blind as the minis- 
ters, and soon after the passage of a bill in accordance with 
North's proposition, in May, 1773, several of their heaviest 
tea-ships, fully laden with the herb, were on their way to 
America. Information of the fact reached the colonies 
some time before any of the tea-ships arrived ; and at no 
time since the passage of the Stamp Act was popular in- 



268 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [J5t. 40. 

dignation hotter, and the spirit of defiance more rampant. 
It was resolved by the people in the principal seaport towns 
that the tea ishould not be landed, and appointed consignees 
were warned not to disregard the popular will by receiving 
it. The Sons of Liberty became exceedingly active, and 
late in the antumn a formal reorganization of the societies 
took place. Their correspondence was renewed, and j>lan3 
were concerted to destroy the tea should the consignees 
persist in having the cargoes landed. 

Two of the tea-ships first arrived at Boston at the close 
of November, and in obedience to the wishes of the people 
the vessels were moored at a wharf, with a guard of twenty- 
five men stationed near, to see that none of the obnoxious 
article was landed. Finally, the people, at a public meet- 
ing, ordered the commanders of the vessels to leave the 
port and proceed to sea with their cargoes. The governor 
interfered, and took measures to prevent their sailing. 
This aroused public indignation to the highest pitch, and 
on a cold moonlight evening, the 16th of December, a 
crowd rushed from an excited meeting in Faneuil Hall at 
the signal of a savage war-whoop, some disguised as Mo- 
hawk Indians, and boarding the ships, broke open the tea 
chests and cast the whole of the cargoes into the waters of 
the harbor. 

In New York the excitement was equally great. At a 
public meeting, held on the 20th of October, it was de- 
clared that tea consignees and stam^^* distributors were 
equally obnoxious ; and they denounced the importation of 
tea so emphatically that some of the commission mer- 
chants in London refused to have anything to do with the 
shipment of the article. A New Yorker, named Kelley, 
canvassing for a seat in Parliament as representative of one 
of the English boroughs, ridiculed the reported indignation 



1773.] POPULAR COMMOTIONS. 269 

of the Americans, and gave assurances that no danger need 
be apprehended from their ire. His offense was noted at 
home, and on the 5th of November he was burned in effigy 
in front of the Coffee House, in Wall street. 

Concert Of action in different cities was evinced by the 
fact that on the 25th of November, the " Mohawks" of 
New York city were notified to be in readiness for duty on 
the arrival of expected tea-ships ; and we find the name of 
" Mohawks" connected Avith similar movements elsewhere. 
On the 29th, the Sons of Liberty were formally reorganized, 
and passed strong resolutions of warning to all who should 
in any way be concerned in the reception of tea, or even of 
harboring it should any be landed. 

Grovernor Tryon declared that the tea should be deliv- 
ered to the consignees, even if it was to be "sprinklal with 
blood." This declaration was repeated by an officer of the 
crown in the presence of several Sons of Liberty, when 
John Lamb, one of the foremost of the patriots, said, 
" Tell Tryon, for me, that the tea shall not be landed ; 
and if force is attemj)ted to effect it, his blood will be the 
first shed in the contest. The people of the city are firmly 
resolved on that head."* The governor undoubtedly re- 
ceived the message, and, taking counsel of his fears or his 
prudence, wisely refrained from interfering in the matter. 

On the 17th of December, the day after the tea was 
destroyed in Boston harbor, and before intelligence of the 
event could have reached New York, a large concourse of 
jjeople assembled in " the fields," pursuant to a public call, 
and were addressed by Mr. Lamb. Strong resolutions in 
favor of resistance were passed, and a committee of fifteen 
were appointed to correspond with their friends in other 
places. While the business of the meeting was in progress, 
* Leake's Life of Lamb, p. 78. 



270 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [Mt. 41 

the mayor and recorder of the city appeared, bringing as- 
surances from Governor Tryon that when the tea should 
arrive it should be publicly taken into the fort, kept there 
until the proper orders for its distribution by the King, 
the council, or the owners, should be given, and then it 
should be sent out as publicly as it was taken in. Lamb 
saw through the artifice. The act of Parliament demanded 
payment of the duties when the article should be landed ; 
and Lamb warned the people that suffering the tea to be 
brought on shore at all would be an infraction of their 
solemn resolves and the pledges of the non-importation 
league. He then put the question. Shall the tea be 
landed ? when there was a most emphatic response, thrice 
repeated. No ! The meeting then adjourned " till the ar- 
rival of the tea-ships," 

During the period of excitement concerning the tea- 
ships Colonel Schuyler was confined to his house most of 
the time with the gout, and was not in New York during 
the session which commenced on the 6th of January, 1774, 
and ended on the 19 th of March following. 

" We have finished a long and disagreeable session," wrote Council- 
lor Smith, " in which I wish you had taken a part, not because I wish 
you trouble, but that you might have shared in the credit which Clin- 
ton* has acquired in the course of it. There is a surprising cliange both 
within doors and without, the spirit of party being in disgrace, to the 
confusion of those who led it, and found ii necessary to the continuation 
of their power that the people should not recover their senses. Their 
impatience under a governor who scorned to be purchased excited them 
to another effort to humble him, but they found themselves baffled in 

* George Clinton, one of the most efficient men during the Revolution, as 
brigadier general, and as governor of the State, had taken a docidod republi- 
can stand, with Schuyler, during tlie two preceding sessions. He had studied 
law with Mr. Smitii, and was now only twenty-five years of age. The 
troubled sea of poUtics was consonant with his nature, and he entered upon 
it with zeaL 



1714.] NEW PARTIES. 271 

our House, as they were before by your good management in the as- 
sembly."* 

'At that time political affairs were in the greatest con- 
fusion. There were so many side issues continually pre- 
senting themselves, that loyalists upon one question to-day 
were found to be republicans upon another question to- 
morrow ; and even Schuyler, staunch Whig as he was, was 
sometimes suspected of leaning toward the crown and the 
aristocracy by those who could not comprehend the pro- 
priety of personal friendship with political opponents, and 
because of his conservatism. 

Among the j)eople loyalty and timidity developed bit- 
ter fruits which distracted the Revolutionary committees, 
and by adroit management moderate men and royalists 
gained the ascendancy. Afraid openly to oppose the popu- 
lar will, they insidiously cast obstacles in the way of effi- 
cient cooperation with other colonies. Two distinct parties 
were formed among professed republicans, marked by a line 
of social distinction — the Patricians and the Tribunes, as 
they were called — the merchants and the gentry, and the 
mechanics. We shall refer to this matter again presently. 

The assembly and the governor were upon amicable 
terms during the session of 1774. At midnight, at the 
the close of 1773, the government house in the fort took 
fire. The flames spread so rapidly that the governor's 
family escaped with difficulty, and a seiwant girl, sixteen 
years of age, perished in the flames. The governor lost all 
of his personal effects. In his opening speech to the as- 
sembly he laid the matter before them, and in addition to 
making provisions for rebuilding the province house, they 
voted him a present of twenty thousand dollars in consid- 
eration of his misfortune. 

* Autogra^ih letter, March 22, 1774. 



272 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [^T. 41. 

Late in January the assembly appointed another stand- 
ing committee of correspundence,* to hold comuiuuiou with 
the asscmUics of other provinces on the great pohtical 
questions of the day. In the New York Legishiture, and 
among the Sons of Liberty, committees had been in oper- 
ation for several years, but Legislative Committees, for in- 
tercolonial communication upon the rights of the people,. 
had been suggested by Massachusetts, on motion of Sam- 
uel Adams, and acted upon by Virginia only during the 
preceding year. 

Appropriate resolutions were adopted by the New York 
assembly when the committee was appointed, and the 
Speaker was instructed to prepare drafts of letters to the 
Speakers of all the colonial assemblies on the continent, 
inclosing these resolutions, and requesting them to lay 
them before their respective Legislatures. They also, by 
resolution, thanked the Virginia Burgesses " for their early 
attention to the liberties of America." 

In his opening message Governor Tryon had informed 
the assembly that he was about to leave for England on ac- 
count of the controversy with the New Hampshire Grants, 
and on the 19th of March they presented to him a most 
loyal and affectionate address at the house of Lord Stirling, 
in Broad street. He sailed for England on the 7tli of April, 
leaving the government in the hands of Golden, his vener- 
able lieutenant, then eighty-six years of age. Eleven days 
afterward the first of the tea-ships arrived at Sandy Hook, 
near New York. It was the Nancy, Captain Lockyer, 
which had been tembly storm-tossed and beaten on her 

* The committeo consisted of John Cruger, James Jauncey, Benjamm 
Seaman, Frederick Philipse, Zebulon Seaman, Simon Boerum, James De 
Laucoy, Jacob Walton, Isaac TVilkuis, Daniel Kissam, John Rapelyo, John 
De Noyelles, and George Clinton, 



1T74.] FATE OF A TEA-SHIP. 273 

voyage. "Ever since her departure from Europe," said 
Holt's Journal, when noticing her arrival, " she has met 
with a continued succession of misfortunes, having on 
board something worse than a Jonah, which, after being 
long tossed in the tempestuous ocean, it is hoped, like 
him, will be thrown back upon the place from whence it 
came. May it teach a lesson there as useful as the preach- 
ing of Jonah was to the Ninevites." 

The Sons of Liberty were on the alert when intelligence 
of the arrival of the Nancy reached them. The pilots 
would not take her into port without consent of the pa- 
triots. A committee went down to Sandy Hook and took 
charge of her ; and on the solicitation of her captain, who 
wished to refit his vessel, she was allowed to go up to the city. 
The captain was met at the wharf by a large concourse of 
citizens. The consignee, awed by the people, advised the 
captain to return with his cargo as speedily as possible. He 
was not allowed to go near the custom-house ; and, finally, 
escorted by a great number of citizens, called out by the 
ringing of the bells, and with a band playing " God save the 
King," he was placed on a pilot boat and taken on board his 
ship, while the colors of the vessels in the harbor were gaily 
displayed, and a flag was unfurled from the Liberty Pole 
with a royal salute of artillery. Lockyer, glad to escape, 
immediately put to sea. 

Meanwhile another vessel had arrived, having some tea 
concealed among its cargo. It was discovered by the Sons 
of Liberty, and the whole was thrown into the waters of 
the harbor. The commander, who at first denied having 
the obnoxious article, took refuge from the fury of the 
populace on board the Nancy, and went with her when 
she sailed away. In other seaports of the colonies similar 
proceedings were had when tea-ships arrived ; and all the 



274 PHILIP SCHUYLER, [^T. 41. 

tea that came to America was either sent back, destroyed^ 
or locked up, so that not a farthing of revenue was ever 
derived from the plausible scheme of Lord North. 

The destruction of tea at Boston produced a powerful 
sensation throughout the British realm. The exasperated 
ministry at once proposed retaliatory measures, and the 
King and Parliament resolved to inflict severe punishment 
upon Boston for its treasonable and rebellious conduct, 
notwithstanding full compensation was offered to the East 
India Company for the tea that had been destroyed. On 
the 7th of March, 1774, Parliament, by enactment, ordered 
the port of Boston to be closed against all commercial 
transactions whatever, and the removal of the custom- 
house, courts of justice, and other public offices to Salem, 

On the 28th of March Paliament leveled a destructive 
blow against the charter of Massachusetts, by so modifying 
it as to deprive the people of many of the dearest privileges 
guaranteed by that instrument. On the 21st of A^jril, a 
third retaliatory act was j^assed, providing for the trial in 
England of all persons charged in the colonies with mur- 
ders committed in support of government, giving, as Col- 
onel Barre' pointedly said, "encouragement to military 
insolence, already so insupportable." A fourth bill was 
passed, providing for the quartering of troops in America; 
and a fifth, called the Quebec Act, making great conces- 
sions to the Eoman Catholics of Canada, was enacted. 
The latter excited the animosity of all Protestants. 

These measures created unusual indignation. The 
Americans saw that justice from Great Britain could not 
be expected, and that they would soon be called upon to 
support and defend their rights and freedom with their 
own strong arms. They wisely proceeded to prepare for 
the inevitable conflict. They commenced arming them- 



1774.] INVISIBLE ARMY. 275 

selves. They practiced daily in military exercises. The 
manufacture of arms and gunpowder was encouraged ; and 
in New England, the inhabitants capable of bearing arms 
were enrolled in companies, and prepared to go to the field 
at a minute's warning. These formed the vast host of 
Minute Men of the Revolution — an army, as we have else- 
where observed, " strong, determined, generous, and pant- 
ing for action, yet invisible to the superficial observer. It 
was not seen in the camp, the field, nor the garrison. No 
drum was heard calling it to action, no trumpet was sounded 
f )r battle. It was like electricity, hiirmless when latent but 
terrible when aroused. It was all over the land. It was at 
the plough, the workshop, and in the counting-room. Al- 
most every household was its headquarters, and every roof 
its tent. It bivouacked in every church, and mothers, wives, 
sisters, and sweethearts, made cartridges for its muskets, and 
supplied its commissariat. It was the old story of Cadmus 
repeated in modern history. British O])pression had sown 
dragons' teeth all over the land, and a crop of armed men 
was ready to spring up, but not to destroy each other."* 

The Boston Port Bill was to go into operation on the 
1st of June. To enforce it. General Gage had been made 
Governor of Massachusetts. He arrived at Boston on the 
12tli of May. On the following day a meeting of the in- 
habitants was called. Samuel Adams presided, and it was 
resolved to renew non-im])ortation measures in all their 
stringency, and to discontinue trade to the West Indian 
colonies, if their sister provinces should concur with them 
in the expediency of the measure. The object sought to 
be gained by including all of the West India islands was 
not only to raise a clamor in the British possessions there, 
but to arouse those of the French, Dutch, and Danes, whose 

* Lossing'a Life of Wcishmglon, i. 140. 



276 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [,^t. 41. 

respective C(^Urts would be immediately called upon to re- 
monstrate. 

Paul Eevere, one of the most active Sons of Liberty in 
Boston, bore a letter to those of New York, giving them 
intelligence of what had been done in Faneuil Hall. But 
before his arrival, the New York Vigilance Committee, 
consisting chiefly of Hampden Hall patriots — the most 
radical of the Sons of Liberty — had written to their friends 
in Boston, urging them to pursue vigorous opposition meas- 
ures, and assuring them of the sympathy and support of 
New York. This letter was dated the 14th. 

We have observed that the professed republicans of 
New York were, at this time, separated by political dis- 
tractions and social differences. Loyalists and conservatives 
sought to suppress if not destroy the influence of the radi- 
cal democrats, and merchants were arrayed against me- 
chanics. The merchants, always timid during commotions, 
were alarmed by the letter of the Vigilance Committee to 
the patriots of Boston, and a meeting of their class was 
smnmonod at the house of Samuel Fraunces, corner of Broad 
and Pearl streets, called " The Exchange," on the evening 
of the 16th of May, " to consult on the measures to be 
pursued in consequence of the late extraordinary advices 
received from England" — the retaliatory measures of Par- 
liament. That meeting nominated a Committee of Fifty 
as representatives of public sentiment in New York. Sev- 
eral well-known loyalists were placed upon it, Avhile more 
radical Sons of Liberty, like John Lamb, were excluded. 

A meeting of the citizens was called on the 19tli to 
ratify the nomination, when Francis Lewis was added, and 
the committee consisted of fifty-one. 

The spirit that ruled in the appointment of that com- 
mittee may be inferred by the following extract from an 



1774.] 



GKOWING LOYALTY. 277 



ironical letter written by Gouverneur Morris to Richard 
Penn, on the day after the ratification meeting was held : 

"The heads of the mobility," he said, "grow dangerous to the gen- 
try, and how to keep them down is the question. While they correspond 
with the other colonies, call and dismiss popular assembhes, make resolves 
to bind the consciences of the rest of mankind, bully poor printers, and 
exert with full force all their tribunitial powers, it is impossible to curb 
them. But art sometimes goes further than force, and, therefore, to trick 
them handsomely, a Committee of Patricians was to be nominated, and 
into their hands was to be committed the majority of the people, and 
the highest trust was to be reposed in them by a mandate that they 
should take care quod repuhlica non capiat iiijuriam. The Tribunes, 
tlarough the want of good legerdemain in the senatorial order, perceived 
the finesse, and yesterday I was present at a grand division of the city, 
and tliere I beheld my fellow citizens very accurately counting their 
chickens not only before they were hatched, but before one half of the 
eo-o-s were laid. In short, they fairly contended about the future form 
of our government — whether it should be founded on aristocratic or 
democratic principles." 

The first act of the Committee of Fifty-one was to 
repudiate the strong letter of the 14th to the Boston com- 
mittee, and to caution the public that it was not official. 
On the 23d, at a meeting of the Grand Committee, Paul 
Revere was received, and laid before them the official pro- 
ceedings of the Boston town meeting of the 13th. They 
did not concur with the resolutions of that meeting con- 
cerning non-intercourse with Great Britain and the West 
Indies, but favored the assembling of a congress of deputies. 
They accordingly appointed Alexander M'Dougall, Isaac 
Low, James Duane, and John Jay a committee to prepare 
a response to the Boston letter. It was written, it is sup- 
posed, by John Jay, and was reported to the Grand Com- 
mittee the same evening. 

" Tour letter, enclosing the vote of the town of Boston, and the 
letter of your Committee of Correspondence," said the response, " wero 



278 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [.Et. 41. 

immediately taken into consideration. While we think you justly enti- 
tled to the thanks of your sister colonies for asking their advice on a 
case of such extensive consequences, we lament our inability to relieve 
your anxiety by a decisive opinion. The cause is general, and concerns 
a whole continent, who are equally interested with you and us ; and we 
foresee that no remedy can be of avail unless it proceeds from the joint 
acts and approbation of all. From a virtuous and spirited union much 
may be expected, while the feeble elForts of a few will only be attended 
with mischief and disappointment to themselves, and triumph to the ad- 
versaries of liberty. 

" Upon these reasons we conclude that a congress of deputies from 
THE COLONIES IN GENERAL is of the utmost importance ; that it ought to be 
assembled without delay, and some unanimous resolutions formed in this 
fatal emergency, not only respecting j'^our deplorable circumstances, but 
for the security of our conmion rights. Such being our sentiments, it 
must be premature to pi-onounce any judgment on the expedient which 
you have suggested. We beg, however, that you will do us the justice to 
believe that we shall continue to act with a firm and becoming regard to 
American freedom, and to cooperate v/ith our sister colonies in every 
measure that shall be thought salutary and conducive to the public good. 
We have nothing to add but that we sincerely condole with you in your 
unexampled distress, and to request your speedy opinion of the pro- 
posed Congress, that if it should meet with your approbation we may 
exert our utmost endeavors to carry it into execution."* 

The Virginia House of Burgesses had, three days be- 
fore this letter was prepared, made a similar recommenda- 
tion, but intelligence of the fact had not, of course, reached 
New York. Indeed the feeling was spontaneous, and was 
goniined to no section of the country. The people every- 
where began to long for a closer union against a common 
oppressor, and Massachusetts and other colonies promptly 
responded in the affirmative to the suggestion of New York 
for a general congri>ss. 

On the 7th of June, the New York committee sent a 
second letter to the Boston committee, requesting them to 
appoint the time and place for the assembling of the pro- 
posed congress. Ten days afterward the Massachusetts 
* American Archives, i. 297. 



1774.] NEW YORK MISREPRESENTED. 279 

assembly adoj^ted and signed a " Solemn League and Cove- 
nant," in which all former non-importation agreements and 
cognate undertakings were concentrated ; and a committee 
was appointed to send the covenant as a circular to every 
colony in America. They also passed a resolution in favor 
of a general congress of deputies, and suggested the firet 
day of the ensuing September as the time, and the city of 
Philadelphia as the place for the assembling of such con- 
gress. The people in other colonies acceded to the Boston 
proposition for non-intercourse, and New York stood al- 
most alone in refusing to adopt those stringent and hitherto 
successful measures. The Loyalists rejoiced, and Riving- 
ton, the Eoyal Printer, published in his Gazetteer the fol- 
lowing verse : 

" And so, my good masters, I find it no joke, 
Por York has stepped forward and thrown of the yoke 
Of congress, committees, and even King Sears,* 
Who shows you good nature by showing his ears." 

The Committee of Vigilance of the Sons of Liberty 
were not awed by the more imposing one of the Fifty-one, 
but were active, vigilant, and untiring. They called a 
meeting of the inhabitants in " the fields," on the 19th of 
June, when the refusal of the Fifty-one to accede to the 
general union in favor of non-importation, jM'oposcd by 
Massachusetts, was denounced, and resolutions were passed 
expressive of the sympathy and intended cooperation of the 
people of New York with the suffering Bostonians ; also 
that delegates should be appointed to tlie proposed general 
congress, instructed to agree to a vigorous non-intercourse, 
in accordance with the Boston resolutions. 

* Isaac Sears, commonly called King Sears, was one of the earliest and 
most ardent Sons of Liberty. He was a merchant, and, though radical, was 
placed on the Committee of Fifty-one. The next year he avenged himself by 
leading a party that destroyed Rivington's printing establishment. 



280 PHILIP SCHUYLER, [JEt. 41. 

The Committee of Fifty-one held a meeting on the 
evening of the 4th of July, when, on motion of Alexander 
M'Dougall, Philip Livingston, John Alsop, Isaac Low, 
James Duane, and John Jay were nominated for delegates 
to the continental congress. M'Dougall also proposed to 
Bihmit the nominations to the Tribunes or "committee of 
mechanics for their concurrence." The nomination was 
approved, but the reference to the mechanics was rejected. 
This refusal brought forth a handbill the next day (July 5), 
which called upon the inhabitants of the city to assemble 
in " the fields" on the 6th, at six o'clock in the evening, to 
hear matters " of the utmost importance to their reputa- 
tions and security as freemen." 

A great crowd was assembled at the appointed time. 
M'Dougall was called to the chair, and a series of resolu- 
tions, drawn by him, were adopted. These denounced the 
Boston Port Bill ; declared that any attack upon the rights 
of a sister colony was immediately an attack uj)on the col- 
ony of New York ; that the assumption of power to close 
ports and interrupt commerce was "highly unconstitu- 
tional ;" pledged the colony to join with the others in a 
stringent non-importation league, and to be governed by 
the action of the contemplated general congress, etc. They 
ordered the resolutions to be printed in the public news- 
papers, and transmitted to the different counties in the 
colony, and to the committees of correspondence for the 
neighboring colonies. 

This gathering, so great in numbers and in the impor- 
tance of its action, was always referred to as The Great 
Meeting in the Fields, and it was on that occasion that 
a student in King's College, known as the " Young West 
Indian," — a delicate boy, girl-like in personal grace and 
stature, only seventeen years of age — astonished the multi- 



1774.] A NEW POLITICAL PLANET. 281 

tude by his logic and eloquence. He had been often seen 
walking alone under the shadow of large trees on Dey street, 
sometimes musing, and sometimes talking in low tones 
to himself. The residents near had occasionally engaged 
him in conversation, and were deeply impressed by his wis- 
dom. Some of them seeing him in the crowd, urged him 
to address the meeting. He at first recoiled, but after listen- 
ing attentively to the successive speakers, and finding several 
points untouched, he presented himself to tlie multitude. 

" The novelty of the attempt, his youthful countenance, 
his slender, boyish form, awakened curiosity and excited at- 
tention. Overawed by the scene before him, he hesitated 
and faltered, but as he proceeded almost unconsciously to 
utter his accustomed reflections, his mind warmed with 
the theme — his energies were recovered. After a discus- 
sion clear, cogent, and novel, of the great principles in- 
volved in the controversy, he depicted in the glowing colors 
of ardent youth the long continued and long endured op- 
pression of the mother country. Insisting upon the duty 
of resistance, he pointed to the means and certainty of suc- 
cess, and described the waves of rebellion sparkling with 
fire, and washing back on the shores of England the 
wrecks of her power, of her wealth, and her glory. The 
breathless silence ceased when he closed, and a whispered 
murmur ' It is a collegian ! it is a collegian !' was lost in 
loud expressions of wonder and applause at the extraordi- 
nary eloquence of the young stranger."* 

That orator was the destined son-in-law of Philip 
Schuyler, Alexander Hamilton. This was his entrance 
upon the theatre of public life, whereon he played a most 
useful and extraordinary part for thirty years. 

* A Eistonj of the Republic of the United States, etc., by John C. Hamil- 
ton, i. 65. 



282 PHILIP SCHUYLER, [JEt. 41. 

The Committee of Fifty-one met on the evening of the 
7th. They were evidently alarmed at the course of events. 
They reconsidered their action on the motion of M'Dou- 
gall to submit the nomination of deputies to the congress 
to the committee of mechanics, but proceeded to disavow 
and condemn the resolutions of the great meeting in " the 
fields" as seditious "and incendiary. These denunciations 
offended several of the staunch republicans of the commit- 
tee, and eleven of them instantly withdrew.* 

" The political sky at this place," wrote Councillor Smith to Colonel 
Schuyler two days afterward, " is cloudy. The Committee of Fifty-one, 
composed of jarring members, ten or a dozen of whom have made a 
secession from the main body upon the majority's disapproving some 
late resolves in the Fields, which you have seen in the papers. These 
were intended to urge the committee to join the common voice of the 
continent. They have since published other resolves, and to-day the 
town meets to approve or disapprove them. Those who know the 
populace say nothing will be done but a motion be made to amend 
them. Strange that a colony who had the first inteUigence of the Par- 
liamentary measures is behind all the rest."t 

A committee appointed by the Tribunes, or mechanics, 
addressed a note to each of the nominees for a seat in the 
assembly of deputies, requesting to know whether they 
would support the Massachusetts resolves in that ap- 
proaching congress. They answered that such a course 
would be in accordance with their individual opinions, but 
declared that they gave the assm-ance not with a view to 
secure their election, but to express their sentiments upon 
a question of so great importance.^ This response was 
quite satisfactory, and on the 27th of July the gentlemen 

* These were Francis Lewis, Joseph Ifallct, Alexander M'Dougall, Peter 
Y. B. Livingston, Isaac Sears, Thomas Randall, Abraham P. Lett, Leonard 
Lispenard, John Croome, Abraham Brasher, and Jacob Van Zaadt. 

•j- Autograph letter, July 9, 1774. 

I Leake's Life of Lamb, page 94. 



im.] FIRST CONTINENTAL CONGRESS. 283 

who were nominated were elected delegates by the unani- 
mous vote of the city. Suffolk county elected William 
Floyd ; Orange county, Henry Wisner and John Herring ; 
and Kings county, Simon Boerum. Dutchess and West- 
chester adopted the New York city delegates as their rep- 
resentatives. 

Albany county endeavored to send a deputy from that 
district in the person of Colonel Schuyler, who had been 
all the year, thus far in its progress, a great sufferer from 
the pains of rheumatism and his hereditary malady. We 
have observed that he could not attend the session of the 
assembly, and while the stirring scenes which we have just 
considered were transpiring in New York, he was a prisoner 
to disease at Saratoga. His friends were anxious that one 
so useful should be in active public life, and as the time 
drew near when the great Senate of the people was to as- 
semble, his constituents, and his friends in other districts, 
earnestly desired his recovery, for no man appeared so eli- 
gible for the position as he. Toward the close of July, 
Councillor Smith wrote to him, saying : 

" The colonies are preparing for the grand Witenar/e Mote [Great As- 
sembly] with great spirit. At Philadelphia a plan is digesting far an 
American constitution. I know not the outlines of it. I hope it is for a 
Parliament, and to meet annually. Our people will be the last of all in 
the appointment of delegates. I wish your county would assist in the 
choice. Expresses will be sent through the whole colony to call upon 
the counties for the purpose. * * * The people of England begin to call 
out for an American Parliament."* 

Colonel Schuyler's health improved early m August, so 
that he rode down to Albany ; and when intelligence that 
an appointment of delegates to the congress had been made 
in New York city, his constituents felt more anxious than 
ever for his recovery. Late in August he received the fol- 

* Autograph letter, July 23, 1774. 



284 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [.^t. 41. 

lowing letter from Jacob Lansing, jr., chairman of the 
Albany Committee of Correspondence : 

" Yours of the 22d instant I have received. These rheumatic pains, 
attended with a disagreeable fever, are undoubtedly very hard, but we 
must console ourselves in the days of affliction by hoping we shall get 
the better of it. I am now requested by the Committee to inform you 
that, by the majority of votes of that board, you are appointed our dele- 
gate for the city and county of Albany, to join the general congress at 
Philadelphia, which I hope you will accept, and not decHne serving, as 
it is for the welfare of the public. * * * It is proposed to meet on Tues- 
day next to consider the resolves — whether we are to stand by the re- 
solves made at New York [at the great meeting in the Fields,] or make 
new ones."* 

Colonel Schuyler's health would not permit him to ac- 
cept the nomination, and Mr. Lansing communicated to 
the congi'ess the fact that the committee of the city and 
county of Albany had adopted the New York city dele- 
gates as the representatives of their district.f Within 
sixty-three days after the proposition for a general congress 
went forth, twelve of the thirteen Anglo-American colonies 
had responded in the affirmative ; and at the beginning of 
September delegates from all them were on their way 
toward Philadelphia. 

* Autograph letter, August 23, 1174. 

f Journals of the Continental Congress, September 5, 1774. 



CHAPTER XVII. 

The First Continental Congeess assembled in Car- 
penter's Hall, Philadelphia, on Monday, the 5th of Sep- 
tember, 1774. Twelve colonies were represented. Peyton 
Randolph, of Virginia, was chosen president, and Charles 
Thomson, of Pennsylvania, was appointed secretary. The 
regular business of the congress commenced on the morning 
of the 7th of September, after the Reverend Jacob Duchd, 
of the Church of England, in an impressive prayer, had 
implored the aid of Divine Wisdom in the work to be per- 
formed. 

The session of that congress, so strange and bold in its 
inception — so unmindful of all precedents — so imposing in 
its array of truly great, because good and courageous men 
— so important to the cause of free thought and action in 
both hemispheres — was brief but wonderfully fruitful of 
results. The deputies remained in session until the 26th 
of October. They were far from harmonious in their ac- 
tion. There were antagonisms, growing out of geographi- 
cal and social dirferences, that at times threatened to defeat 
the great purposes of the congi-ess. But the deputies de- 
bated with courtesy and candor, respected each other's 
opinions, sought diligently for the way of truth, and fin- 
ally matured public measures for future action which re- 
ceived the general approbation of the American people. 

The congress prepared and signed a plan for a general 



286 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [^t. 41. 

commercial non-intercourse with Great Britain and her 
West India possessions, according to the recommendation 
of the assembly of Massachusetts. It was called The Am- 
erican Association, and was recommended for adoption 
throughout the country. It consisted of fourteen articles ; 
and in addition to its non-intercourse provisions, it recom- 
mended the abandonment of the slave trade, the improve- 
ment of the breed of sheep, abstinence from all extravagance 
in living, cessation of indulgence in horse-racing, etc., and 
the appointment of a committee in every town, to promote 
conformity to the requirements of the Association. Fifty- 
two members present signed it, and it was sent forth to 
the people as a powerful weapon wherewith to combat the 
wicked enactments of the British Parliament. 

The congress also put forth a Declaration of Eights, 
and an address to the people of Great Britain ; another to 
the several Anglo-American colonies ; another to the in- 
habitants of Quebec, or Canada ; and a petition to the 
King. These were remarkable state papers, and elicited 
the warmest encomiums from the first statesmen in the old 
world. But their most significant action was on the 8th 
of October, when they resolved : 

" That this congress approve the opposition of the in- 
habitants of Massachusetts Bay to the execution of the late 
acts of Parliament, and if the same shall he attempted to 
he carried into execution hy force, in such case all Amer- 
ica ought to support them in their opposition." 

Thus it was that the voice of the nation spoke out in 
harmonious and defiant tones. The quarrel of Massachu- 
setts with the home government was then adopted as their 
own by the other colonies. It was the deliberate expression 
of the sentiments of the pcoph^ of the continent, and made 
a most profound impression upon the civilized world. And 



ITU.] PUBLIC EXCITEMENT. 287 

■when full intelligence of the acts of the congress, after their 
adjournment, reached England, the great William Pitt 
manifested his admiration of their wisdom, and said : "I 
have not words to express my satisfaction that the congress 
has conducted this most arduous and delicate business with 
such manly wisdom and resolution as do the highest honor 
to their deliberation." 

The congress "dissolved itself" after a session of fifty- 
one days; and having declared their opinion that "another 
congress should be held on the 10th day of May next, un- 
less the redress of grievances which we have desired be ob- 
tained before that time," they recommended such deputies 
to assemble at Philadelphia, and that "all the colonies in 
North America choose delegates as soon as possible to at- 
tend such congress." 

At the beginning of 1775, the colonies were in a blaze 
of excitement. Measures were every where consummated 
or in progress to enforce the American Association, by the 
apjjointraent of committees of inspection ; and provincial 
congresses, assuming the functions of regular civil govern- 
ment, soon began to germinate, in defiance of known pre- 
parations on the part of the British ministry to crush the 
rising rebellion. 

In November, 1774, the Committee of Fifty-one in 
New York was dissolved, and at a meeting of "freeholders 
and freemen," held at the City Hall on the 22d of that 
month, a committee of sixty persons were chosen, " for 
carrying into execution the Association entered into by the 
Continental Congress." 

On that day. Councillor Smith, who was already begin- 
ning to waver in his attachment to the cause of the people, 
in the shape it was assuming, wrote to Colonel Schuyler, 
saying : 



288 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [^t. 41. 

" You know what spirit prevailed in the Committee of Fifty-one 
before the congress had pubhshed their resolves, letters, etc. Their 
delegates have become converts to the prevailing sentiments of the con- 
gress. • The true motives I can not positively as yet pronounce, nor 
would I be censorious. I am still not without suspicions, and have a 
little clue. Suppose some of them, who were once opposed to the Lib- 
erty Boys, should have reasoned thus at Philadelphia : ' The govern- 
ment favor we have already lost, and the question only is whether we 
shall court the continent or the merchants of Nev^^ York. From the 
last we have loss to fear. There is an approaching election, and with 
part of the trade, part of the Church, all the non-episcopals, and all the 
Liberty Boys, we may secure places in the assembly and laugh at the 
discontented.' * * * You '11 not wonder, therefore, to learn that by the 
interest of the delegates the Committee of Fifty-one is to be dissolved, 
and a new committee appointed to execute the decrees of the congress, 
which is to consist of the delegates and such a set as the most active 
of the Liberty Boys approve, and had (through the mechanics, who were 
consulted.) chosen in conjunction with the Committee of Fifty-one, from 
which a set, who formerly dictated all their movements, have retired 
outwitted and disgusted, and, as they think, betrayed. With this hint 
you '11 be able to predict what the conduct of some old politicians will 
be at the next session, and will perceive that the current will set all one 
way for liberty in both Houses, unless some persons will throw obsta- 
cles in the way."* 

As soon as the congress adjourned, the Loyalists and 
the high church part}' in New York undertook to weaken 
the American Association, by inducing violations of its 
requirements. Accomplished scholars and able divines, 
who had been engaged in the controversy about an Amer- 
ican episcopate, now resumed their pens. Among the 
most eminent of these writers were Eeverends Dr. Cooper, 
president of King's College, Dr. Ingles, Dr. Seabury, and 
Dr. Chandler. Their chief opponents were William Liv- 
ingston, John Jay, and young Alexander Hamilton. The 
latter entered the list of political writers at this time, and 
very soon he was acknowledged to be the chief of all, not 
excepting the veteran combatant, Livingston, who had 

* Autograph letter, November 22, 1774. 



1774.] DEATH OF GENERAL BRADSTREET. 289 

battled the church and government party so manfully for 
many long years. Hamilton's reply to Dr. Seabury, who 
assumed the character of a " Westchester Fanuer/' was 
a masterpiece of reflections and wise conclusions upon 
the subject of political economy ; and at that early day, 
before cotton,* the great sta23le of our southern States, had 
been dreamed of as an article of commerce, he foresaw 
its immense future value. " With respect to cotton," he 
said " you do not pretend to deny that a sufficient quantity 
of that might be produced. Several of the southern col- 
onies are so favorable to it, that, with due cultivation, in a 
couple of years they would afford enough to clothe the 
whole continent." 

Colonel Schuyler visited New York in September, for 
the first time in many months. He was called there by a 
summons to the bedside of his dying friend. General Brad- 
street. He remained in the city, with the exception of one 
week, until the meeting of the assembly on the 1st of Jan- 
uary following. 

We have already observed that Bradstreet, from causes 
which do not appear, was, for several years, alienated from 
his flimily. At the time of his death, his wife and four 
children were living. His son was a major in the British 
army, and his daughters (Mrs. Agatha Buttar, and Martha 
and Eliza Bradstreet,) were with their mother in London, 
under the protecting care of Sir Charles Gould, of the 
Horse Guards. In an angry moment, Bradstreet had made 
a will cutting off his family from inheritance of his estate. 
Colonel Schuyler frequently remonstrated with him on the 
injustice and cruelty of his act, and finally obtained the 
General's consent to destroy the will. On the 23d of Seja- 
tember, 1774, Bradstreet executed another, in which pro- 

13 



290 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [.^t. 42. 

vision Avas made for his family.* It was drawn by William 
Smith. Colonel Schuyler was made sole executor, and im- 
mediately after the general's death, he addressed the fol- 
lowing letter to the widow : 

"Dear Madam: Such are the vicissitudes of human life, that a mis- 
fortune seldoui occurs but what is accompanied by some comfort. Such 
are the reflections which arise on the death of General Bradstrect, for 
whilst I mourn the departed friend, I rejoice the returned husband and 
parent. No cliaracters, Madam, are perfectly free from blemish. The 
great.est., and almost the only one in his was an unbecoming resentment 
against his family, for supposed faults of whicli I have often told him 
I feared he was too much the occasion. This, however, ought to 
be for ever eradicated from your memory, as he died in perfect peace 
with all. Having set his heart at ease on this point, he seemed more 
cheerful than he had been for a long time before, and met his fate with 
all the fortitude becoming his character as a soldier, and with all the 
resignation inspired by a consciousness that the Supreme Being disposes 
all for the best."t 

General Bradstreet was buried in Trinity church-yard, 
in the city of New York, with military honors. His re- 
mains were taken to the church, accompanied by civil and 
military officers, and the 47th regiment. 

The first session of the New York assembly after the 
Continental Congress had closed its labors commenced on 
the 10th of January, 1775. There was a clear majority of 
loyalists or Tories, as the friends of the government were 
now called, in both Houses, and Colonel Schuyler, as the 
acknowledged leader of the opposition, nobly seconded by 
Clinton, Woodhull, Tenbroeck, Boerum, Van Cortland t, 
Livingston, De Witt, and Thomas, resolved to have the 
political issues between the government and the people 
distinctly drawn and specifically considered. 

The venerable Lieutenant Governor Colden, in his mes- 

* Substance nf an nutngraph letter (rough ilrafl) of Colonel Sehuj-ler to Sir 
Cliarles Goulfi^ October 2, 177-1. 

f Autograph letter, October 2, 177-1. 



1775.] THE NEW YORK ASSEMBLY. 291 

sage, called the attention of the Legislature to the dis- 
turbed state of the colonies; spoke of the " alarming crisis;" 
and told the assembly that the country looked to them for 
wise counsel. " If constituents are discontented and ap- 
prehensive," he said, "examine their complaints with calm- 
ness and deliberation, and determine upon them with an 
honest impartiality." He directed them to supplicate the 
throne, and they would be heard ; exhorted them to dis- 
countenance measures calculated to increase the public dis- 
tress, and promised them his aid. 

The assembly, in its response to the governor's message, 
took conservative ground. It was drawn by Mr. De Lan- 
cey. Colonel Schuyler was one of the committee, and be- 
fore it was reported he moved to strike out the words " and 
with calmness and deliberation pursue the most probable 
means to obtain a redress of our grievances," and to sub- 
stitute the following : " And consider and examine, with 
the utmost calmness, deliberation, and impartiality, the 
complaints of our constituents ; and endeavor to obtain a 
cordial and permanent reconciliation with our parent state, 
by pursuing the most probable means to obtain a redress of 
our grievances." This was thought too strong language, 
and it was negatived. Schuyler voted for the address, 
which had been slightly amended, for there was nothing in 
it particularly offensive to a patriot. 

On the 26th of January, a question came up which 
tested the political character of the assembly. On that 
day Colonel Tenbroeck moved that the House should " take 
into consideration the proceedings of the Continental Con- 
gress, held in the city of Philadelphia in the months of 
September and October last." The motion was negatived 
by a majority of only one, the previous question having 
been called by Colonel Phillipse. Notwithstanding the 



292 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [iET, 42. 

meagreness of the majority, the result gave great joy to 

the Tories. 

" I have the most perfect satisfaction," wrote a New York Loyalist, 
to his friend in Annapolis, " in acquainting you that this day was made, 
in our assembly, a motion for appointing a day for examining the pro- 
ceedings of the Continental Congress, and that it was tin-own out of tlie 
House by a majority of one voice. Of tliis event I heartily wish you 
joy, and that this example may be adopted by the senators in your 
province ; but my fears almost preclude the hope of such good." 

Another wrote, on the 30th, to a gentleman in Boston, 
saying : 

" The enclosed will unriddle the joy that fills the breasts of all the 
friends to government, decency, and good order. Since the glorious 
eleven, with Colonel Phillipse at their head, have carried the day, two 
more members have come, both of which are on the right side, so that 
there is now no chance of the assembly's aiding or abetting the congress. 
The friends of the government plume themselves on this victory, and 
are now open-mouthed against the proceedings of congress, and no one 
dares among gentlemen to support them. Worthy old Silver Locks 
(Lieutenant Governor Colden), when he heard that the assembly had 
acted right, cried out, ' Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in 
peace.' " 

On the 31st of January it was agreed to take into con- 
sideration the state of the colony, and to enter upon the 
journals such resolutions as they should pass. It was de- 
termined to prepare a petition to the King, a memorial to 
the House of Lords, and a statement and a remonstrance 
to the Commons. For the latter service Colonel Schuyler 
was associated with some of the leading members of the 
House, and they reported on the 3d of March. 

Meanwhile other action, cooperative with the patriots 
in the sister colonies, was attempted in the House. On 
the 16th of February, Colonel Schuyler moved that certain 
letters which had passed between the committees of corres- 
pondence of New York and Connecticut, in June, 1774, on 



1775.] TORYISM TRIUMPHANT. 293 

the subject of another congress, and also a copy of a letter 
to Edmund Burke, the agent of New York at the court of 
Great Britain, written by the assembly committee of cor- 
respondence in September, 1774, " be forthwith entered in 
the journals of the House, and that the clerk be ordered to 
supply copies for publication in the newspapers. This mo- 
tion was negatived by a vote of sixteen to nine. 

On the following day Colonel Woodhull moved that 
the thanks of the House should be given to the delegates 
from New York in the late Continental Congress "for 
their faithful discharge of the trust reposed in them." 
This was negatived by fifteen to nine. A motion to tender 
the thanks of the House to the merchants and inhabitants 
for their patriotic adherence to the non-importation league, 
was negatived by the same vote. On the 23d a motion 
to appoint delegates to the proposed second Continental 
Congress was negatived by a vote of seventeen to nine. 
Each of these motions were debated with zeal, and fore- 
most among the speakers who voted in the affirmative were 
Schuyler and Clinton. 

On the 3d of March the committee appointed to pre- 
pare a statement of the grievances of the colony presented 
a timid report, far too delicate in its condemnation of cer- 
tain acts of Parliament to suit the views of Schuyler and 
his friends. He spoke out boldly but courteously concern- 
ing the hesitation of the committee, and then moved that 
a certain act of Parliament, "so far as it imposes duties for 
the purpose of raising a revenue in America — extends the 
admiralty courts beyond their ancient limits — deprives his 
Majesty's American subjects of trial by jury — authorizes 
the judges' certificates to indemnify the prosecutor from 
damages which he might otherwise be liable to — and holds 
up an injurious discrimination between the subjects in 



294 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [^t. 42, 

Great Britain and in America, is a grievance." He sup- 
ported his motion with great zeal and was warmly seconded 
by Clinton. It was adopted in committee of the whole by 
a vote of seven to two. 

Mr. De Lancey, who voted in the negative, now moved 
that the opinion of the committee of the whole should be 
taken " whether his Majesty and the Parliament of Great 
Britain have a right to regulate the trade of the colonies, 
and to lay duties on articles that are imported directly 
into the colonies, from any foreign country, which might 
interfere with the products of Great Britain." It was de- 
cided, by the same relative vote, that they had the right, 
Schuyler and Clinton voting in the negative. Schuyler 
then moved the following addition to De Lancey's resolu- 
tion : " excluding every idea of taxation, internal or exter- 
nal, for the purpose of raising a revenue on the subjects in 
America without their consent." This amendment was 
defeated. 

The committee appointed under the resolution of the 
31st of January, to prepare a series of resolves to be placed 
on the journal of the House, reported on the 8th. These 
resolutions were five in number, and as there was nothing 
in them particularly offensive to the republicans, they 
were adopted without much discussion by a handsome ma- 
iority, after some amendments had been rejected. But 
when, on the 24th, the petition to the King was reported, 
it was so obsequious, so disappointing to the friends of 
popular liberty, that Schuyler took fire, and offered amend- 
ments to almost every paragraph, in language more be- 
coming the dignity of freemen. He moved to strike out of 
the fifth paragraph the sentence which spoke of the King 
as "an indulgent father" — that said there were "some 
measures pursued by the colonies that might be construed 



1775.] OBSEQUIOUSNESS REBUKED. 295 

to tlieir disadvantage/' and which they condemned, and be- 
sought hira to view them leniently, as " the honest though 
disorderly struggles for liberty, not the licentious efforts of 
independence." For these fawning words Schuyler proposed 
to substitute " And as we have too much reason to suspect 
that pains have been taken to induce your Majesty to think 
.MS impatient of constitutional government, we entreat you, 
Royal Sir, to believe that our commotions are honest strug- 
gles for maintaining our constitutional liberty, and not 
dictated by a desire for independence. Could your princely 
virtues, as easily as your powers, have been delegated to 
your servants, we had not, at this time, been reduced to 
the disagreeable necessity of disturbing your repose on an 
occasion which we sincerely lament." This was such a 
severe commentary on the conduct of the royal governors 
that the loyal assembly rejected it by a vote of fifteen . to 
eight. 

Colonel Schuyler then moved to strike out of the sixth 
paragraph the passage which spoke of the colonies having, 
as infants, " submitted hitherto, without repining, to the 
authority of the parent state," but now thought " them- 
selves entitled to their birthright," which was "an equal 
participation of freedom with their fellow subjects in Great 
Britain," and to substitute these words : " Although your 
Majesty's American subjects have, in some instances, sub- 
mitted to the power exercised by the parent state, they 
nevertheless conceive themselves entitled to an equal par- 
ticipation of freedom with their fellow subjects in Great 
Britain." This more manly and dignified mode of expres- 
sion did not suit the Tory members, and this amendment 
was also rejected by a vote of fourteen to seven. 

Unflinching in his determination. Colonel Schuyler im- 
mediately moved to strike out the parargraph in which 



296 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [^t. i2, 

they assured the King that tliey cheerfully acknowledged 
subordination to the Parliament, and wished " only to en- 
joy the rights of Englishmen, and to have that share of 
liberty, and those liberties secured to them, which they 
were entitled to," and to substitute the words, " Conscious 
of the incompetency of the colonial Legislatures to regu- 
late the trade of the empire, we cheerfully acknowledge 
such a power in that august body [the Parliament] as is 
founded in expediency, and confined to the regulation of 
our external commerce, with a view to the general weal of 
all your Majesty's subjects, and in such manner as will 
leave to us, unimpaired, those rights which we hold by the 
immutable laws of nature, and the principles of the Eng- 
lish constitution ; but the exercise of powers incompatible 
with those rights, not justified by expediency, and destruc- 
tive of English liberty, induces us," etc. This, also, was 
negatived by a vote of fifteen to eight. 

Colonel Woodhull, Mr. CUnton, ar^d Mr. De Witt, of- 
fered substitutes for paragraphs with the same desire to 
have the petition manly in tone, but they were all voted 
down. 

At the afternoon session of the same day, the memorial 
to the House of Lords was considered, and Colonel Schuy- 
ler offered sevei'al amendments, so as to more distinctly 
enunciate the Whig view of the powers of Parliament, 
but they were negatived by a strict party vote. Amend- 
ments to the representation and remonstrance to the Com- 
mons, offered by Clinton, shared the same fate. Thus, in 
the course of a month, the political ideas considered by the 
Continental Congress were reviewed by the New York as- 
sembly. 

These papers, expressive of the feelings of the majority 
of the representatives, but not of the people of the jjrovince, 



1775.] POPULAR DEMONSTKATIONS. 297 

were ordered to be transmitted to Edmund Burke, the 
agent of the colony ; and on the 3d of April the colonial 
assembly adjourned, never to meet again. 

What now was to be clone ? The republicans of the 
province of New York, composing by far the greater por- 
tion of the inhabitants, labored under severe disabilities. 
Acting Governor Golden was a Loyalist, and his council 
held office by the King's will. The assembly, though 
chosen by the people, continued in existence only by the 
King's prerogative. They might be dissolved by the rep- 
resentative of the crown (the acting governor) at any mo- 
ment. There was no legally constituted body to form a 
rallying point for the patriots as in Massachusetts, where 
there was an elective council and an annually elected as- 
sembly. In all the other colonies there was some nucleus 
of power around which the people might assemble, and 
claim to be heard with respect. But in New York they 
were thrown back upon their own resources, and nobly did 
they preserve their integrity and maintain their cause, in 
spite of every obstacle. 

The whole continent was now moving in the direction 
of rebellion. The newspapers were filled with every spe- 
cies of writing which the occasion called forth — epigrams, 
parables, sonnets, dialogues, as well as grave essays ; and 
the great subject was presented to the public mind in every 
conceivable form of literary expression, remarkable for point 
and terseness. The following is a fair specimen of the logic 
in rhyme which often appeared : 

"Rudel^y forced to drink tea, Massachusetts iu anger 
Spills the tea on John Bull — Jolin falls on to bang her; 
Massachusetts, enraged, calls her neighbors to aid, 
And give Master Jolm a severe bastiiiade. 
Now, good men of the law, pray who is in fault, 
The one who begun, or resents the assault ?" 
13* 



298 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [^t. 42. 

The warlike demonstrations of the people had alarmed 
Greneral Gage at Boston, and he commenced fortifying the 
Neck leading to the main at Koxbury. He also seized and 
conveyed to that city, quantities of gunpowder found in 
the neighboring villages, and employed stringent measures 
to prevent intercourse between the patriots in town and 
country. Fierce exasperation followed these impolitic meas- 
ures. Hundreds of armed men assembled at Cambridge. 
At Charlestown the people took possession of the arsenal, 
after Gage had carried oiT the powder. At Portsmouth, 
New Hampshire, they captured the fort, ^nd carried off 
the ammunition. At Newport, Rhode Island, the people 
seized the powder, and took possession of forty pieces of 
cannon at the entrance to the harbor. In Philadelphia, 
Annapolis, Williamsburg, Charleston, and Savannah, sim- 
ilar defensive measures were taken. 

The excitement in New York was equally intense. 
Toward the close of the preceding December, the Liberty 
Boys were called to action by the seizure of arms and am- 
munition, which some of them had imported, and had con- 
signed to Walter Franklin, a well known merchant. These 
were seized by order of the collector, because, as he alleged, 
of the want of cockets, or custom-house warrants, they 
having been in store several days without them. While 
they were on their way to the custom-house, some of the 
Sons of Liberty rallied and seized them, but before they 
could be concealed they were retaken by government offi- 
cials and sent on board a man-of-war in the harbor. 

Some days afterward a warning letter, directed to Col- 
lector Elliot, was thrown into the post-office, informing him 
that the arms would be called for when wanted. It con- 
cluded with these words : 



1775.] AN UNWISE PAELIAMENT. 299 

" Do not slight this admonition, or treat it as a vain menace, for we 
have most solemnly sworn to effect it sooner or later, and you know our 
nation is implacable. We would not have you imagine that it is in the 
power of any set, either civil or military, to protect or shield you from 
our just revenge, which will be soon done, and in such a manner as not 
^ to be known until it is fatally experienced by you. 

" From the Mohawk River Indians." 

This letter, with Elliot's answer, was posted at the 
Coflee House, and was generally disapproved, as the col- 
lector was a just and humane man. But that night a 
printed hand-bill, supposed (as well as the letter) to have 
been written by Lamb, was thrown into almost every house 
in the city. It was an exciting appeal to the people, urging 
them to resistance. 

" In the name of heaven," said the appeal " throw off your suspi- 
cions ; assemble together immediately, and go in a body to the collector ; 
insist upon the arois being re-landed, and that he must see them forth- 
coming or abide the consequences. Delays are dangerous ; there is no 
time to be lost. It is not a season to be mealy-mouthed or to mince 
matters ; the times are precarious and perilous, and we do not know 
but the arms may be wanted to-morrow." 

It was in this spirit that the republicans acted every 
where, and yet the British Parliament, blind to the best 
interests of the nation, persisted in their hostile attitude to 
the colonies. When that body assembled, in January, 1775, 
they presented a scene of great excitement. Dr. Franklin, 
and others in England, had given a wide circulation to the 
state papers put forth by the Continental Congress, and 
the English mind was already favorably influenced in be- 
half of the Americans. Pitt went on crutches into the 
House of Lords, from his retirement in the country, to 
cast the weight of his mighty influence into the scale of 
justice by action in that House. There he proposed con- 
ciliatory measures. ^ They were rejected. Burke, Conway, 



300 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [^t. 42. 

and Hartley, all in turn, j^roposed similar measures. They 
were not only rejected, but the majority in Parliament 
struck another severe blow at the industiy of New Eng- 
land, by prohibiting fishing on the Banks of Newfound- 
land, a business in wliich four hundred ships, two thousand 
shallops, and twenty thousand seamen were engaged. The 
ministry also attempted to sow dissensions among the 
Americans, by crippling the trade of the southern and 
middle colonies, but exempting New York, Delaware, and 
North Carolina from the oppression, these provinces having, 
of late, evinced the most loyalty. But the people of these 
colonies indignantly spurned the bait to win their allegiance, 
and the scheme for disunion signally failed. The continent 
was united more strongly than ever by the presence of com- 
mon dangers and a perception of common interests ; and 
when the spring of 1775 opened, all hope of reconciliati(m 
between England and her American colonies had vanished. 
Relying upon the justness of their cause, and the favors of 
the Lord God Omnipotent, the repjublicans resolved to defy 
the fleets and armies of Great Britain with which they 
were menaced. 

The flame of war was first lighted in the east. Gen- 
eral Gage beheld with alarm the work of the people of 
Massachusetts, in collecting arms and ammunition. He 
was informed that some artillery was deposited at Salem, 
and in February he dispatched Lieutenant Colonel Leslie 
by water to Marblehead, to seize and carry them to Bos- 
ton. The whole movement was made in secret. The 
troops landed at Marblehead on Sunday morning, ' An ex- 
press carried the news of danger to the people of Salem. 
They wore worshiping God in their churches. The con- 
gregations were immediately dismissed, and rallied around 
Colonel Timothy Pickering. Led by him, they opposed 



1Y75.] WAR BEGUN. 301 

the British, who had then reached the draw-bridge, near 
the town. A compromise was effected, by which the troops 
were allowed to cross the bridge and immediately return, 
and they marched back without having produced bloodshed 
or secured their plunder. This ridiculous performance al- 
lowed Trumbull, the poet, to write a few weeks after- 
ward : 

" Through Salem straight, without delay, 
The bold battalion took its way ; 
Marched over a bridge, in open sight 
Of several Yankees armed for fight ; 
Then, without loss of time or men. 
Veered round to Boston back again, 
And found so well their projects thrive, 
That every soul got back alive ! " 

But a more serious affair occured soon afterward, when 
an attempt of a similar character was made. On the 1st 
of April Gage had three thousand armed men under his com- 
mand in Boston. He felt confident in his strength, and in 
the pride of that confi.dence he felt assured that he could 
easily repress insurrections and keep the people quiet. He 
did not like the accumulation of warlike stores in the hands 
of the people, which he was informed was going on in every 
direction. He knew full well what effect the boldness of 
the people's representatives would have upon their consti- 
tuents — representatives who, in spite of his frowns, had 
met, ninety in number, and formed a provincial congress, 
with John Hancock at their head. They had repudiated 
royal authority ; made provision for an army of twelve 
thousand men ; solicited other colonies to follow their ex- 
ample, and augment the army to twenty thousand ; and 
commisioned officers of experience in the French and In- 
dian war to be the generals of the host. 

When Gage reflected upon these movements he felt 
uneasy, notwithstanding his confidence in his balls and 



302 PHILIP SCHUTLEK. [^:.42. 

1. ,-- . g^^^ towards mi«inight. on the 18th of April, he 

i eight hun<lred men, nnder LLeiitenaiit Colonel 
Smith and Major Pitcaim. to destrov tnilTtarr stores "which 
the republicans had gathered at Concord, less than twenty 
miles from Boston. The expedition was conducted with 
the most perfect secrecy, yet vigilant eyes were upon the 
actors. Dr. Joseph Warren, one of the early martyrs of 
the EeTolution, had been watching Gragr/s movements with 
sleepless vigilance. Early in the evening he became aware 
of the expedition, and as soon as the troops moved, from 
the city, Paul Revere, by Warren's direction, crossed to 
Charlestown, and made his way toward Concord with all 
pjssible dispatch, to arouse the inhabitants and summon 
the minute-men to the field. The effort was effectual. 
The clangor of church beUs, the roar of cannon, and the 
sharp crack of musketry, soon heard in all directions, 
aroused the country ; and when at dawn, on the morning 
of the 19th, Pitcaim, who led the advance, reached Lex- 
ington, a few miles from Concord, he found seventy deter- 
minal men drawn up on the village green to oppose him. 
With bitter scorn, as he rode forward, he called them. 
" Rebels l" He shouted " Disperse ! disperse ! Lay down 
your arms and disperse, ye rebels l" They stood firm, and 
he ordered his men .to fire. Then the first blood of the 
Revolution flowed. Seven citizens were killed, and several 
"vere wounded. The survivors returned a feeble fire, and 
then, by order of their leader, they dispersed. " Oh what 
a prions morning is this I" cried Samuel Adams, who, 
with John Hancock, had been attainted by royal decree as 
arch-rebels, and had slept that ni^t in Lexington. 

It was indeed a glorious morning. The Source of Day 
arose in splendor an hour after the deliijate grass on the 
green at Lexington had been sprinkled with the blood of 



BMrrns. and typified the asc^aision of the Sim of Liberty. 
which on that day arose and shed its TivxfVing rays over 
the contineiit While the British troops. spiTured on hy a 
sense of gatheiinir danger, "vrere shedding more blood at 
Concord, in a Tain endearor to exescnte their master's ot- 
deis, or "vrere makinir an inirlorioiis retreat towards B-Dston, 
tembly smitten by the exa^psiated people on every hand. 
intellisienee of the massa.cre was speeding orer the land as 
fast as fleet horses conld bear the messengers : and with 
one impulse the colonists grasped their weapons and pire- 
pared for the inexitable stmggle. Deliberation's roiee was 
hushed, and the strons; right arm was reirarded as the as- 
serter of the pe-ople's rights henceforward. The sword was 
now drawn, and the scabbard was cast away. Prom the 
PenobscKjt to the St.. Mary — from the capes of the Atlan- 
tic coast w the most shaded xalley beyond the All^^hanies 
where the smoke of the pioneers camp nres were seen, the 
sentiment " Libzstt os Death !" which had just been 
uttered by the Hps of Patrick Henry, vibrated upr'U the 
strings of every heart in tnne wiih the song of the angels, 
over the plains of Bethlehem, when the Prince of Peace 
was bom. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

We have seen how the republicans failed in their ef- 
forts, in the New York Assembly, to procure the appoint- 
ment of delegates to the second Continental Congress, to 
be convened at Philadelphia in May. Nothing was left 
for them to do but to appeal to the people. The Ceneral 
Committee of sixty members, many of them of the loyal 
majority in the assembly, yielding to the pressure of popular 
sentiment, called a meeting of the freeholders and freemen 
of the city at the Exchange, to take into consideration the 
election of delegates to a convention of representatives from 
Buch of the counties of the province as should adopt the 
measure, the sole object of such convention being the choice 
of proper persons to represent the colony in the Continen- 
tal Congress. 

This movement was opposed by the loyalists as disre- 
spectful to the assembly, who had refused to appoint dele- 
gates ; but the people were now driven to a point where 
respect for authorities whose views were not in consonance 
with the spirit of liberty and free discussion, was almost 
unknown. They accordingly assembled in great numbers 
around the Liberty Pole on the 6th, bearing a banner, 
inscribed, " Constitutional Liberty," and marched in pro- 
cession to the Exchange. The loyalists soon afterward ap- 
peared there in considerable numbers, headed by members 
of the council and the assembly, with officers of the army 



1775.] PROVINCIAL CONVENTION. 305 

and ricavy, expecting, no doubt, to overawe the republicans. 
At first there was confusion. This soon subsided, and the 
meeting proceeded with calmness and dignity to nominate 
eleven persons to represent the city in a provincial conven- 
tion to be held in New York on the 20th, who were to be 
instructed to choose delegates to the Continental Congress. 

On the following day the chairman of the Committee 
of Sixty gave notice of the proposed convention on the 
20th to the chairmen of the committees of correspondence 
in the different counties, advising them to choose delegates 
to the same. There was a prompt response. In some of 
the counties the deputies were chosen by the committees 
of coiTespondence ; in others by a convention of commit- 
tees chosen in different parts of the county ; in others the 
several towns chose each a delegate ; in Orange county the 
freeholders made the choice, as in the election of assembly- 
men ; and in the city of New York they were chosen by 
ward meetings. All of these produced at the convention a 
certificate of their election from proper authorities. 

The convention assembled at the Exchange, in New 
York, on the 20th, and consisted of forty-two members.'-^ 
Colonel Schuyler was at the head of the delegation from 
Albany, and took a leading part in the convention. Philip 

* These were for the City and CovMy of New York — Philip Livingston, John 
Alsop, James Duane, John Jay, Leonard Lispenard, Francis Lewis, Abraham 
Walton, Isaac Roosevelt, Alexander M'Dongall, and Abraham Brasher. For 
the City and County of Albany — Philip Schuyler, Abraham Tenbroeck, and 
Abraham Yates, jr. For Ulster Comity — Charles Dewitt, George Clinton, and 
Levi Paulding. For Orange County — A. Hawkes Hay, Henry Wisner, John 
Herring, Peter Clowes, Israel Seeley. For Westchester County — Lewis MorrLs, 
John Thomas, Robert Graham, Philip Van Courtlandt, Samuel Drake, Stephen 
Ward. For Duchess County — Morris Graham, Robert R. Livingston, jr., Eg- 
bert Benson. For Kings County — Simon Boerum, Richard Stillwell, Theodoras 
Polhemus, Denice Donice, John Vanderbilt. For Suffolk County — William 
Floyd, Nathaniel Woodhull, Phineas Farring, Thomas Treadvvell, John Sloss 
Hobart. For Newtown and Flushing — Jacob Blackwcll, John Talman. 



306 PIIILir SCHUYLER. [^T. 42. 

Livingston was chosen jiresidcnt of tlie convention, and 
John M'Kesson secretary. This was the first provincial 
convention in New York — the first positive expression of 
the doctrine of popular sovereignty in that province. They 
remained in session three days, and chose for delegates to 
the Continental Congress Philip Livingston, James Duane, 
John Alsop, John Jay, Simon Boerum, William Floyd, 
Henry Wisner, Philip Schuyler, George Clinton, Lewis 
Morris, Francis Lewis, and Ptobert R. Livingston, to whom 
were given full power, " or any five of them, to meet the 
delegates from other colonies, and to concert and deter- 
mine upon such measures as shall he judged most effectual 
for the preservation and reestablishment of American rights 
and privileges, and for the restoration of harmony between 
Great Britain and her colonies." 

While this convention was in session intelligence of 
the bloodshed at Lexington was on its way, but did not 
reach New York until the day after the adjournment. It 
was then only a vague rumor, but, notwithstanding it was 
the Sabbath, the Sons of Liberty got together, and speed- 
ily unloaded two vessels that were about to sail for Boston 
with flour for the British troops. Towards evening they 
secured a large quantity of the public arms, took possession 
of the City Hall, and placed a guard of one hundred men 
at its door, and another hundred at the powder magazine, 
to keep these munitions of war for the use of the people. 

On Monday, the 24th, Colonel Schuyler left for Albany 
in a sloop. Authentic intelligence from Boston had not 
yet reached New York. It came the following day, at 
two o'clock in the afternoon. Expresses were immediately 
sent up the Hudson by a sloop about to sail with a fair 
wind. Calms succeeded, and it was Friday, the 28rh, be- 
fore the confirmed intellisfcncc reached the committee of 



17T5.] PATRIOTIC LETTER. 307 

correspondence at Albany, and was spread by swift couriers 
over the Hudson and Mohawk vallies. 

Colonel Schuyler was at his seat at Saratoga, when, 
late on Saturday, the news reached him. That evening he 
wrote as follows to his friend John Cruger, chairman of 
the assembly's committee of correspondence, who was pre- 
paring for a voyage to England on account of ill-health : 

" Of course long ere this you have received the news from' Boston. 
My heart bleeds as I view the horrors of civil war, but we have only 
left us the choice between such evils and slavery. For myself, I can 
say with Semprt- nius : 

' Heavens ! can a Roman Senate long debate 
"Which of the two to choose, slavery or death I 
No; let us arise at once,' etc. 

for we should be unworthy of our ancestors if we should tamely submit 
to an insolent and wicked ministry, and supinely wait for a gracious an- 
swer to a petition to the King, of which, as a member of the assembly 
who sent it, I am ashamed. I know there are difficulties in the way. 
The loyal and the timid in this pi'ovince are many, yet I believe that 
when the question is fairly put, as it is really so put by this massacre in 
Massachusetts Bay, whether we shall be ruled by a military despotism, 
or fight for right and freedom ? the great majority of the people will 
choose the latter. For my own part, much as I love peace — much as I 
love my domestic happiness and repose, and desire to see my country- 
men enjoying the blessings flowing from undisturbed industry, I would 
rather see all these scattered to the winds for a time, and the sword of 
desolation go over the land, than to recede one line from the just and 
righteous position we have taken as freeborn subjects of Great Britain. 
" I beg you, my dear sir, if your health shall permit when you ar- 
rive in England, to use all your influence there to convince the people 
and the rulers that we Avere never more determined to ccntend for our 
rights than at this moment — that we consider ourselves not aggressors, 
but defenders — and that he who believes that our late assembly truly 
represented the feelings and wishes of our people is greatly deceived. I 
have watched tlie course of the political currents for many months with 
great anxiety, and have been, for more than a year, fully convinced that 
unless Great Britain should be more just and wise than in times past, 
war was inevitable. It is now actually begun ; and in the spirit of 
Joshua I say, I care not what others may do, ' as for me and my house,' 
we will serve our country." 



308 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [^t. 42. 

On the following day Colonel Schuyler, as usual, at- 
tended public worshij). The news from the east had already 
spread over the neighborhood. 

" I well remember," records an eye-witness, " notwithstanding my 
youth, the impressive manner with which, in my hearing, my father 
told my uncle that blood had been shed at Lexington I The startling 
intelligence spread like wild-fire among the congregation. The preacher's 
voice was listened to with very little attention. After the morning dis- 
course was finished and the people were dismissed, we gathered about 
General Philip Schuyler for further information. He was the oracle of 
our neighborhood. We looked up to him with a feeling of respect and 
affection. His popularity was unbounded ; his views upon all subjects 
were considered sound, and his anticipations almost prophetic. On this 
occasion he confirmed the intelligence already received, and expressed 
his belief that an important crisis had arrived which must for ever sepa- 
rate us from the parent state."* 

The intelligence from the east came at a moment when 
the republicans of New York were powerfully stirred by 
local events. Sears, the great leader of the Liberty Boys, 
had been arrested for seditious words, because he had ad- 
vised the people at a public meeting to arm themselves and 
prepare for conflict. He refused to give bail, and was on 
his way to prison, when his political friends took him from 
the officers and bore him in triumph through the town, 
preceded by a band of music and a banner. The royal 
government was powerless. The acting governor of the 
province and the mayor of the city had lost all control, co- 
ercive or persuasive. The Liberty Boys, with the embold- 
ened Sears at their head, had closed the custom-house and 
laid an embargo upon vessels in the harbor. 

All power was now in the hands of the people. A new 
committee of one hundred citizens were chosen in place of 
the Committee of Sixty, and it was resolved that a provin- 
cial congress ought speedily to be assembled, who should 

* pie Sexagenary, or Reminiscences of the American Revolution, page 20. 



1775.] PROVINCIAL CONGRESS. 309 

take the government into their own hands, provide for all 
contingencies that might arise, and prepare the province 
for defense against hostile invasion. 

A circular letter was sent to the several county com- 
mittees, proposing the election of deputies to a provincial 
congress to be held in the city of New York, its sessions to 
commence on the 21st of May. An address was drawn up 
to the Lord Mayor and common council of London, ex- 
planatory of the views of the republicans in America, set- 
ting forth their rights, and expressing their determination to 
maintain them. A military association was formed, under 
Samuel Broome ; and a paper, in the form of a league, to 
be signed by the people at large, was prepared, in which, 
after declaring their conviction of the necessity of union, 
they resolved " in the most solemn manner never to become 
slaves, and to associate, under all the ties of religion, honor, 
and love to their country, to adopt and endeavor to carry 
into execution whatever measures may be recommended by 
the Continental Congress, or resolved upon by the provincial 
convention, for the purpose of preserving their constitution 
and opposing the execution of the several arbitrary and op- 
pressive acts of the British Parliament, until a reconcilia- 
tion between Great Britain and America, on constitutional 
principles, which is most ardently desired, can be obtained." 

Elections were speedily held throughout the province, 
in a manner nearly the same as in the preceding canvass, 
and on Tuesday, the 23d day of May, about seventy of 
eighty-one delegates elected assembled at the Exchange, 
in New York, and organized a provincial congi'ess by choos- 
ing Peter Van Brugh Livingston for president, Volkert P. 
Douw vice-president, and John M'Kesson and Robert Ben- 
son secretaries. 

While the people of New York were thus moving in 



310 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [^T. 42. 

the opening scene of the drama of the Revolution, events 
of the greatest moment had taken place elsewhere, having 
the same tendency. Even before the tragedies at Lexing- 
ton and Concord, Patrick Henry had electrified the Vir- 
ginia Assembly at Richmond with that great speech whose 
peroration Avas " Give me liberty, or give me death!" And 
before his prophecy, that '' the next gale that sweeps from 
the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding 
arms !" was fulfilled, he had marched upon Williamsburg, 
the residence of the royal governor, and compelled him to 
make full restitution for powder belonging to the province, 
which had been secretly conveyed on board a British man- 
of-war lying in the York river. Already the patriots of 
Charleston and Savannah had seized the arms and ammu- 
nition of their respective provinces, and made their governors 
tremble for their personal safety ; and as the intelligence 
of bloodshed went from colony to colony, steps were taken 
for the assembling of provincial congresses and abolish- 
ing royal rule. Before the middle of June, when the 
first real battle of the Revolution was fought on Breed's 
liill, the inhabitants of all the colonies had virtually if not 
actually repudiated royal authority, and were controlled by 
that only just government which is based upon a righteous 
popular will. 

Some aggressive enterprises were also undertaken by 
the republicans, the most important of which occurred in 
the province of New York, but not by its citizens. 

" It lias been proposed to us," wrote Joseph Warren, in behalf of 
the Massachusetts Coininittee of Safety, to the committee of New Yorlc, 
on the 30th of April, " to take possession of the fortress at Ticonderoga, 
We have a just sense of the importance of that fortification, and the 
usefulness of those fine cannon, mortars, and field-pieces which are 
there ; but we would not, even upon this emergency, infringe upon the 
rights of our sister colony. New York. But we have desired the gen- 



1775.] AN AGGRESSIVE EXPEDITION. 311 

tloman who carries this letter to represent the matter to you, that you 
may give such orders as are agreeable to you." 

The proposition alluded to by Warren was made by 
Benedict Arnold, a druggist and bookseller, of New Ha- 
ven, Connecticut, and captain of one of the train-bands 
of that town. On hearing of the skirmish at Lexington, 
he had hastened to Cambridge with his company of volun- 
teers. Before he left, a plan had been crudely formed by 
members of the Connecticut assembly, to attempt the sur- 
prise of the garrison and the capture of the fort at Ticonde- 
roga, if on inquiry it should be deemed expedient. Of this 
Arnold had doubtless heard. 

While the committee at Cambridge were waiting for an 
answer from New York, the Connecticut people had moved. 
One thousand dollars were advanced from the colonial treas- 
ury to defray the expenses of the expedition ; not, how- 
ever, by the open sanction of the assembly, but by its 
tacit consent. A committee of two persons was appointed 
to proceed to the frontier towns, to make inquiries and act 
as circumstances should dictate. They were joined by a 
few more in Connecticut. On their consulting Colonels 
Easton and Brown, at Pittsfield, in Western Massachu- 
setts, these officers both agreed to join in the enterprise, 
and the latter immediately enlisted about forty of his regi- 
ment as volunteers. The whole party then went on to 
Bennington, the home of Ethan Allen, whose influence in 
the New Hampshire Grants was almost boundless. The 
Green Mountain Boys, as the train-bands were named, were 
ready to obey his call at a moment's warning. The enter- 
prise suited Allen's nature and aspirations, and he joined 
the expedition with a strong corj)S. At twilight, on the 
7th of May, the whole party halted at Castleton and held a 
council of war. Colonel Allen was appointed commander- 



312 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [^t. 42. 

in-chief, Colonel Easton his lieutenant, and Colonel Seth 
Warner, of the Green Mountain Boys, the third in com- 
mand. 

Arnold, meanwhile, under the sanction of the Massa- 
chusetts committee and the consent of the Massachusetts 
Provincial Congress, had also been forming an expedition 
for the same purpose, and had procured for himself the 
chief command of it. He was commisioned a colonel by 
the Provincial Congress, furnished with means, and author- 
ized to raise, in western Massachusetts, not more than four 
hundred men for the expedition. On reaching Stockbridge 
he was disappointed by finding another expedition already 
in the field. Engaging a few followers he hastened onward 
and joined the others at Castleton. Because of his com- 
mission, he claimed the right to chief command. His 
pretensions were disallowed. The Green Mountain Boys 
declared that they would shoulder their muskets and march 
home before they would follow any other man than Colonel 
AUen. 

Arnold yielded, but with a bad grace. He joined the 
expedition as a volunteer, retaining his commission but 
having no command. With hasty steps they pressed for- 
ward, for they feared information of their movement might 
reach the fort. On the evening of the 9th of May they 
were on the shores of Lake Champlain, opposite the fort- 
ress ; and at dawn the next morning the officers and eighty- 
three men were upon the beach at Ticonderoga, sheltered 
by the bluff on which stood the old grenadier's battery built 
by the French. They dared not wait for the arrival of the 
remainder of their comrades, for daylight might be fatal 
to the enterprise. 

In the dim light of the early morning, Colonel Allen, 
with Arnold at his side, followed the lead of a lad who 



1775.] STJRRENDER OF TICONDEROGA. 313 

well knew the intricacies of the fort, and went stealthily 
up the slope to the sally-port. The sentinel then snapped 
his fusee, and fled along the covered way to alarm the gar- 
rison. The invaders followed him closely, and were led by 
the frightened fugitive directly to the parade within. Ar- 
raying themselves in proper order, the New Englanders 
wakened the sleeping garrison with a tremendous shout, 
while the gallant leader of the Green Mountain Boys as- 
cended a staircase to the chamber of Captain De Laplace, 
the commander, and beating the door with the handle of 
his heavy sword, he cried out, with stentorian voice, "I 
demand a surrender !" 

De Laplace started from his bed, followed by his trem- 
bling wife, and opening the door saw and recognized Allen. 
" Your errand .?" he boldly asked the intruder. Pointing 
to his men, Allen answered, " I order you to surrender im- 
mediately !" " By what authority do you demand it ?" 
asked the indignant De Laplace. "The Great Jehovah 
and the Continental Congress," said Allen, with terrible 
emphasis, at the same time flourishing his bi'oadsword 
over the head of the now terrified commander, and order- 
ing him to be silent. Although the Continental Congress did 
not commence its session until several hours after this per- 
emptory demand, and De Laplace doubted Allen's divine au- 
thority, while he knew that George was King " by the grace 
of God," he took counsel of necessity and surrendered to the 
republicans the fortress and its dependencies, and a large 
quantity of articles precisely such as the gathering armies 
of patriots needed. No less than one hundred and twenty 
iron cannon, fifty swivels, two mortars, a howitzer, a co- 
horn, a large quantity of ammunition and other stores, and 
a warehouse full of naval munitions, and abundant pro- 
visions, were the spoils of victory. Forty-eight men, wo- 

14 



314 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [^T. 42. 

men, and children, were sent prisoners of war to Hartford, 
in Connecticut. 

Soon after the surrender was effected. Colonel War- 
ner arrived with the remainder of the expedition, and on 
the 12th he took possession of Crown Point. Thus a 
handful of determined men, inexperienced in the art of 
war, accomplished in the spac-^ of three days what expedi- 
tion after expedition had failed to do in the wars with the 
French ; and at the outset of the Revolution the Republi- 
cans had the advantage of the possession of Lake Cham- 
plain and the key to Canada. 

Arnold now again claimed a right to chief command, 
but his pretensions were resisted as before. The semi- 
official committee from Connecticut, having the expedition 
in charge, formally installed Colonel Allen commandcr-iu- 
chief of Ticonderoga and its dependencies, and authoi-ized 
him to remain as such until he sliould receive further or- 
ders from the Connecticut Assembly or the Continental 
Congress. Arnold reluctantly yielded, sent a protest to 
the Provincial Congi-ess of Massachusetts, from whom he 
had received his commission, and then went down tlie lake 
in command of a sort of amphibious expedition. We 
shall meet him frequently hereafter. 

The second Continental Congress assembled in Carpen- 
ter's Hall on Wednesday, the 10th of May, 177(^wluni 
Peyton Randol})h was unanimously chosen president, and 
Charles. Tlionison secretary. It was agreed that its sessions 
should be secret. On the 13th there was a representation 
present from all of the thirteen provinces. 

Grave questions arose when the congress had assembled 
and were prepared for business. Whom did they re])re- 
sent ? and what might they di) ? According to the terms 
of their ai)pointment, this ])ody was no more a legislative 



1775.] SECOND CONTINENTAL CONGRESS. 315 

one than the congress of 1774. It was composed of simple 
committees, met to consult on measures for the public 
good. No executive or even legislative powers had been 
delegated to any of these committees, and yet, by the 
common consent of the continent they were regarded as a 
governmental power. The nation, not yet crystallyzed into 
a confederacy, was menaced with imminent danger. The 
sovereign of the realm to which they belonged had declared 
them rebels. Clashing interests, geographical divisions, 
and sectional habits, made them an apparently heterogene- 
ous people, difficult to be brought into social and political 
affinity. 

Shall we confederate ? Shall we legislate as well as 
deliberate ? Shall we attempt the exercise of executive 
power ? These were serious questions that arose in the 
minds of the deputies. They were soon answered by the 
faith of the people. The great body of the inhabitants of 
the colonies regarded the General Congress as the arbiter 
and director of public affiiirs for the whole continent in 
sympathy. The Provincial Congress of Massachusetts ex- 
pressed this, when, seven days before the Continental Con- 
gress met, they prepared a communication to that body, 
saying : " The sudden exigency of our public affairs pre- 
cluded the possibility of luaiting for your directions in 
these important measures;" [raising and providing an army] 
and by asking for the direction and assistance of congress, 
and suggesting that an American army should be forthwith 
raised. 

Colonel Schuyler left Albany for Philadelphia on the 9th 
of May, bearing to the committee at New York a letter from 
that of his own county, asking advice concerning the sup- 
plying with provisions troops from Connecticut in their ex- 
pected attack upon Ticonderoga. He reached Philadelphia 



316 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [^t. 42. 

on the 15th, and on the same day took his seat in congress 
with his colleagues. Franklin, convinced that reconcilia- 
tion with Great Britain was next to impossible, had lately 
returned home, and was now in the congress with Samuel 
and John Adams, of Massachusetts, Jay and Livingston, 
of New York, Washington, Henry, and Lee, of Virginia, 
Kutledge, of South Carolina, and almost fifty other pa- 
triots of less note — the best men to be found in the col- 
onies. 

The congress, somewhat doubtful of their powers, moved 
cautiously. At the veiy beginning of this session a question 
of vital iniportance was propounded by the New York com- 
mittee for their solution. Intelligence had arrived that 
British troops were about to be landed in that city to quiet 
the rebellion, in imitation of the armed occupancy of Bos- 
ton the year before. An address had been presented to 
Lieutenant Governor Golden, which, after commenting 
upon passing events, requested him to use his influence 
with General Gage, to prohibit the landing of such troops 
as had been ordered to that station. Golden assured them 
that no troops were expected, and suggested that the rumor 
was put in circulation to justify the calling in of rebel 
troops from Connecticut, who had collected under Wooster, 
and were hovering upon the eastern borders of New York. 
This assurance was false, for troops soon arrived at Sandy 
Hook but were ordered to Boston. 

Meanwhile the New York committee asked the advice 
of the congress as to their course in the event of the troops 
attempting to land. With " scrupulous timidity," as Ed- 
mund Burke said, the congress recommended the colony of 
New York to act on the defensive for the present, "so long 
as may be consistent with their safety and security ; that 
the troops be permitted to remain in the barracks so long as 



1775.] EMBAERASSED LEGISLATURES. 317 

they behave peaceably and quietly, but that they be not 
suffered to erect fortifications, or take any stej)s for cutting 
off the communication between the town and country ; and 
that if they commit hostilities or invade private pro]3erty the 
inhabitants should defend themselves and their property, 
and repel force by force ; that the warlike stores be removed 
from the town ; that places of retreat, in case of necessity, 
be jirovided for the women and children of New York ; 
and that a sufficient number of men be embodied and kept 
in constant readiness for protecting the inhabitants from 
insult and injury." "■■'•" 

This course was doubtless thought to be expedient, but 
the advice embarrassed the action of the Provincial Congi-ess 
of New York, who assembled a week later. It recognized 
the existing royal government in the province, with all its 
machinery of civil, military, and naval power. It also 
embarrassed the Continental Congress, for, three days af- 
terward, intelligence reached them of the capture of Ticon- 
deroga and Crown Point. What should be done ? They had 
already resolved to send a humble petition to the King, and 
make overtures for a reconciliation. They had advised New 
York to submit conditionally to royal authority, but here 
was an overt act of rebellion — an actual beginning of of- 
fensive war. Must they disclaim it and lose the advantage 
gained ? 

An invasion of Canada had been thought of, and now 
the way for success seemed open. But, for a moment, 
the congress shrunk from the responsibility, and advised 
the committees of New York and Albany to remove the 
spoils taken at Ticonderoga to the head of Lake George, 
to prevent them from being recaptured by a force from 
Canada ; and that " an exact inventory be taken of all 

* Journals of Congress, May 5, 1775. 



318 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [JEt. 42. 

such cannon and stores, in order that they may be safely 
returned when the restoration of the former harmony be- 
tween Great Britain and the colonies, so ardently wished 
for by the latter, shall render it prudent and consistent 
with the overruling law of self-preservation."* 

On the 15th, the congress appointed Colonel Washing- 
ton, Samuel Adams, and Thomas Lynch, a committee to 
consider what posts were necessary to occu])y in the colony 
of New York, and agreed that on the following day the 
congress should " resolve itself into a committee of the 
whole to take into consideration the state of America." 
The latter topic occupied the attention of that august 
body for many days. While a few among them desired 
political independence, the greater proportion only wished 
for reconciliation, for their attachment to home, as England 
was still called, was almost as strong as their love of lib- 
erty and sense of oppression. But every day brought 
them fresh reasons for believing a reconciliation to be 
doubtful, and every day they felt the necessity more and 
more of preparing for a conflict of arms. Taking counsel 
of prudence, they recommended vigorous preparations for 
war, while holding out to the mother country, with the 
hand of true aftection, the olive branch of peace. 

The Provincial Congress of New York met on the 22d 
of May. The political complexion of that body disap- 
pointed the people. The old leaven of Toryism that pre- 
vailed in the late colonial assembly was evidently a power 
in the new conclave. It appeared early in several minor 
acts, but most decidedly when John Morin Scott moved 
that as the colony of New York had not given such i)ublic 
testimonials of its cordial accession to the confederacy of 
the colonies as others iuid done, by approving of the acts 

*■ Journals of Congress, May 18, 1775. 



1775.] POSITION OF NEW YORK. 319 

of the Continental Congress of 1774, " this congress do 
fully approve of the proceedings of said congress."* This 
motion met with decided opposition, and elicted a warm 
debate. It was this debate, on a subject where there could 
not be a diversity of sentiment among true patriots, 
that alarmed the republicans. 

Doubtless during the few years preceding the kindling 
of the Revolution, and the earlier period of the contest, 
there were more active and influential friends of the crown 
in New York than in any other province. This was owing 
in part to its geographical and commercial i)osition, but es- 
pecially to the fact that there were several landed proprie- 
tors and wealthy families who naturally felt averse to a 
change in government, being sensible of greater security for 
their property under the existing state of things. These 
were loyal — not all, but a greater portion of them. The 
exposed situation of the province below the Highlands to 
attacks from the naval forces of Great Britain was another 
inducement to be cautious not to offend the government, 
if not to be actually friendly to the crown. Again, Sir 
William Johnson and his family, who had unbounded influ- 
ence over the Indians in the Mohawk region and the inter- 
ests of many settlers, were naturally loyalists, and for a 
long time after hostilities had commenced, Toryism strongly 
prevailed among the inhabitants west of Albany. It was 
less, probably, than it would have been had Sir William 
lived to bear rule there when the dispute resulted in blows. 
He died suddenly at Johnson Hall, in July, 1774, and the 
mantle of office, as Indian agent, fell upon his son-in-law 
and nephew, Guy Johnson, whose loyalty was equal to 
that of Sir William. 

Such are some of the reasons why New York, in her 

* Journals of the Provincial Coagress, M.iy 25, 1774, 



320 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [^t. 42. 

representative assembly, moved so tardily to the music of 
rebellion when the war broke out. She has been taunted 
for that tardiness, but unjustly. The masses of her people 
were republican in sentiment from the beginning; and when, 
finally, Toryism was fairly crushed out of her provincial 
congress by the popular pressure, no state was more practi- 
cally patriotic. With a population of only a little more 
than one hundred and sixty thousand, of whom thirty-two 
thousand five hundred were liable to do militia duty, New 
York furnished almost eighteen thousand sturdy soldiers for 
the Continental Army — over three thousand more than its 
quota called for by the Continental Congress. 

The members of the Provincial Congress of New York 
subscribed to and recommended the American Association, 
organized by the first congress, and adopted measures to 
enforce its provisions. They also took into consideration 
the means for defense, and were earliest, on the motion of 
Gouverneur Morris, in recommending an emission of paper 
money by the General Congress for the whole continent, 
thus recognizing the confederation as complete and the 
congress as the supreme legislature. They also addressed 
a circular letter to the inhabitants of Canada, (translated 
into French by Paul Du Simitiere,) calling upon them to 
join those of their sister colonies in defense of their liber- 
ties and the rights of man. 

The Continental Consrress also issued an address to the 
inhabitants of Canada, for the same purpose, at the close 
of May. They had already, by a series of resolves, based 
upon a report of the committee of which Washington was 
chairman, recommended the colony of New York to pro- 
ceed immediately to erect fortifications at the upper end of 
York Island and in the Hudson Highlands ; to arm and 
train the militia of the province, that they might be ready 



1775.] DESIRES FOR RECONCILIATION. 321 

to act at a moment's warning ; recommended that troops be 
enlisted to serve during the remainder of the year ; and in 
every way to persevere the more vigorously in preparing for 
their defense, as it was very uncertain whether the earnest 
endeavors of the congress to accommodate the unhappy 
differences between Great Britain and the colonies, by con- 
ciliatory measures, would be successful.* 

The Provuicial Congress of New York acted promptly 
on these recommendations ; at the same time they evinced 
a most earnest desire for reconciliation. They appointed 
committees to view the various points near New York and 
on the Hudson thought to be eligible for fortifications, and 
they directed another committee to draft a plan for honor- 
able reconciliation with Great Britain, in a spirit of mutual 
concession. They agreed that Colonel Philip Schuyler was 
the most suitable person in the colony to be recommended 
to the Continental Congress as a major general, and Richard 
Montgomery, Esq., as brigadier general ; and they wrote 
to their representatives in that Congress, saying : " We 
pray you to use every effort for the compromising of this 
unnatural quarrel between the parent and child, and, if 
such terms as you may think best shall not be complied 
with, earnestly to labor, that at least some terms may be 
held up, whereby a treaty shall be set on foot to restore 
peace and harmony to our country, and spare the further 
effusion of human blood." 

" For many reasons," wrote Councillor Smith to Colonel Schuyler, 
" I think the present the moment in which the greatest blessings may 
be secured to our country. The last hope of the ministry is to divide us. 
Tliis is become impossible. We are then at the eve of a change of men, 
or a change of measures by the same men. The first is ruin to the 
ministers. They have no way of preventing it but by a change of 
measui-es. Could you wish for a better opportunity to negotiate ? You 

* Journals of Coag;res3, May 25, 1775. 
14* 



322 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [,^t. 42. 

have the ball at your feet. For heaven's sake don't slip so fair a pros- 
pect of (gaining what yon run the greatest risk of losing upon a change ot 
men. I heard of Dr. Franklin's arrival with extreme anguish. He has 
connected himself with Lord Chatham. I dread this event and his in- 
fluence upon your councils, if he aims only, as the great orator, I fear, 
does, at the destruction of the favorites' and the support of our cause 
only as the instrument to effect it. If that lord was first minister, have 
you reason to beUeve that he means more than to exempt you from in- 
ternal taxation ?" 

After suggesting what he deemed a feasible plan for 
reconciliation, embracing the idea of an American Parlia- 
ment restricted in its operations to making revenue provi- 
sions, the writer continued : 

" If something of this kind is not the result of your present councils, 
we shall purchase our redemption with blood and misery, fur evmy 
nerve of administration will be strained to stand another year at least. 
And though I tliink we shall be free at last, yet why not now ? Why 
not immediately ? Why raise a military spirit that may furnish unman- 
ageable adventurers on this side of the water unfriendly to a province 
in which you and I have something to lose. * * * For God's sake be 
slow. Guard against those who are interested in pushing matters to 
extremities for their personal safety or private interests. There may be 
among you those who look for salvation from the number of the obnox- 
ious, as well as for elevation from a change of ministry. Your country 
wants nothing but a change of measures. I trust myself to your pru- 
dence and fiieudship iu this distressing, critical hour. I commend you 
to the Fountain of Light."* 

* Autograph letter, May 16, 1775. 



CHAPTER XIX. 

While the general Congress,, notwithstanding their 
desire for reconciliation, was prudently moving on with 
vigor in preparations for war, the 2)opular assemblies in all 
the provinces and the great mass of the people were en- 
gaged in like preparations. A deceptive token of peace had 
been held out by the British ministry. To the astonish- 
ment of all parties in Parliament, Lord North, in March, 
offered what he called a Conciliatory Bill for their consid- 
eration. It provided that when the proj^er authorities in 
any colony should offer, besides maintaining its own civil 
government, to raise a certain revenue and place it at the 
disposition of Parliament, it would be proper to forbear 
imposing any tax on that colony except for the regulation 
of commerce. The minister found himself immediately 
exposed to a cross-fire. The ministerial party opposed his 
proposition because it was conciliatory, and the opposition 
were dissatisfied with it because it proposed to abate but a 
single giievance, and was not specific. 

When a copy of North's bill was laid before the Con- 
gress, on the 26 th of May, the significant commentary 
upon it was a resolution that the colonies should be " im- 
mediately put in a state of defense." The proposition to 
petition the King was vehemently opposed as an imbecile 
and temporizing measure, calculated to embarrass the pro- 
ceedings of Congress and to give the ministry time to send 



324 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [jEr. il. 

fleets and armies while the Americans were vainly waiting 
to hear words of royal clemency. 

There was a decided war spirit in the general Congress. 
Still they were cautious. Notwithstanding the way for 
the conquest of Canada was fairly opened, and Ethan Allen 
and Benedict Arnold were calling for aid to make a suc- 
cessful invasion of that province, the Congress, hoping to 
gain a greater victory by making the Canadians their allies, 
sent a loving address to them, and resolved, on the 1st of 
June, " that no expedition or incursion ought to be under- 
taken or made by any colony or body of colonists against 
or into Canada." 

But it was difficult to restrain the people. The war 
spirit was abroad. The patience of supplication was ex- 
hausted. Already an army was in the field. When intel- 
ligence of the bloodshed at Lexington and Concord went 
from lip to lip throughout New England, the inhabitants 
iTished toward Boston from almost every town within fifty 
miles of that city. Within two days at least twenty thou- 
sand men, armed and unarmed, were gathered in that neigh- 
borhood. They came also from Connecticut, Khode Island, 
and New Hampshire. The veteran Putnam left his plow in 
the furrow and hastened to Cambridge. His companion-in- 
arms in the old French war. Captain Stark, soon joined him 
there; and Gridley and others, who had shared with him the 
privations and honors of earlier wars, were ready for action. 
Artemas Waixl was appointed by the Massachusetts Com- 
mittee of Safety commander-in-chief of the motley army so 
suddenly assembled, and Richard Gridley was made chief 
engineer. With a determined spirit they commenced piling 
up fortifications to imprison the British army upon the 
Boston peninsula. Day by day the position of that army 
became more and more perilous, notwithstanding a large 



1775.] BATTLE OF BUNKEE's HILL. 325 

reinforcement arrived at the close of May, under three ex- 
perienced generals — Howe (brother of the loved commander 
whose remains Captain Schu}der bore from Lake George to 
Albany for ])unal), Clinton, and Bm-goyne. Twelve thou- 
sand armed men were on that peninsula at the beginning 
of June ; and in the harbor and surrounding waters were 
several full-armed ships under Admiral Graves. 

Gage felt strong as he looked upon his well-appointed 
battalions, and lie determined to march out and scatter the 
earthworks of the rebels and their undisciplined host to the 
winds. On the 10th of June he proclaimed all Americans 
in arms to be rebels and traitors, and offered a free pardon 
to all who should return to their allegiance, except those 
arch offenders, John Hancock and Samuel Adams, whom 
he intended to send to England to be hanged. The former 
was then the president of the Continental Congress, and the 
latter was the most active and determined spirit in that body. 

Apprised of the intentions of Gage to send out an in- 
vading force, the patriots prepared to meet him. During 
the brief darkness of a short June night they cast up in- 
trenchments upon Breed's Hill, overlooking Charlestown 
and menacing Boston. The British generals could hardly 
credit the testimony of their senses in the morning when 
this apparition appeared. Delay would now be dangerous, 
and on the morning of the 17th of June many boats filled 
with British soldiers crossed the narrow waters between 
Boston and the Charlestown peninsula. It was a hot, 
sultry day, and the slopes of Breed's Hill seemed to glow 
with flame when the scarlet uniforms of the British sol- 
diers were displayed upon them, and heavy platoons were 
moving slowly up to attack the redoubt, within which lay 
fifteen hundred provincials. In full view of the anxious, 
streaming eyes of friends who covered roofs and balconies 



326 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [,Er. 42. 

in Boston, the first real battle of the Ecvoliition was then 
fought, desperately and courageously by both parties. 
Breed's Hill was strewn ^vith the slain invaders, while the 
Americans yet held the redoubt. But their scanty ammu- 
nition soon failed, and they were compelled to retreat. In 
the battle they had lost but few men, but at the moment 
of retreat one of the noblest of them fell. It was Dr. 
Jose})h Warren, just appointed a major-general, but fight- 
ing gallantly as a volunteer under Colonel Prescott, the 
commander of the redoubt. Near the spot where he fell, 
and within the lines of the little fortress so nobly defended, 
the countrymen of Warren have raised a tall granite shaft 
commemorative of the gallant deeds of himself and his 
compatriots. 

Two days before this conflict — a conflict in which 
neither party could claim a victory — a conflict known as 
the Battle of Bunker's Hill,* the Continental Congress, 
acting upon the sentiment in tlieir petition to the King — 
" We have counted the cost of this contest, and find no- 
thing so dreadful as voluntary slavery" — had not only voted 
to raise an army of twenty thousand men, but had adopted 
the incongruous one before Boston as a Continental Army, 
and appointed George Washington connuander-in-chief 
of " ail the forces raised or to be raised for the defense of 
the colonies." Artemas Ward, then in command of the 
army, with his headquarters at Cambridge ; Charles Lee, 
a restless adventurer and experienced soldier; Philip Schuy- 
ler, who had, a few days before, been placed on a commit- 
tee with Washington to prepare rules and regulations for 
the government of the army ; and Israel Putnam, a vet- 

* General Wurd ordered Colonel Prcseott to fortifv' Bunker's; Hill, l.ving a 
short distance back of Breed's Hill. The expedition for the purpose proceeded 
in the darkness, and hy mistake fortilied Breed's Hill, uearer Boston. 



1775.] CONTINENTAL MONEY. 327 

eran of the French and Indian wars, were appointed major- 
generals, and composed the principals of Washington's 
staff. Seth Pomeroy, David Wooster, and Joseph Spen- 
cer, of Connecticut ; Richard Montgomery, of New York ; 
WiUiara Heath and John Thomas, of Massachusetts ; 
John Sullivan, of New Hampshire ; and Nathaniel Greene, 
of Rhode Island, were appointed brigadier-generals. Ho- 
ratio Gates, formerly an officer in the British army, but 
then a resident of Virginia, was appointed adjutant gen- 
eral. 

Having made provision for an army and its regulations, 
the next care of the Congress was to provide the " sinews 
of war" — money. The requisite amount could not be ob- 
tained in specie, so they acted upon the suggestion of the 
New York Provincial Congress, and on the 22d of June 
agreed to issue a sum not exceeding two millions of dollars 
in bills of credit. A month later another million was au- 
thorized ; and emissions were made from time to time, as 
necessity demanded, until no less than two hundred mil- 
lions of dollars, known as continental money, were issued. 
Much of this was never redeemed, and the bills were utterly 
worthless after the year 1781. They are now curious relics 
in the cabinets of collectors. 

Washington left Philadelphia for Cambridge on the 
morning of the 21st of June, accompanied by Generals 
Lee and Schuyler, and chosen members of his military 
family. A brilliant civic and military cavalcade, com- 
posed of at least two thousand citizens, accompanied them 
several miles, and a corps of light-horse escorted them 
all the way to New York. When they approached Tren- 
ton they were met by a courier riding in hot haste for 
Philadelphia, to lay before Congress dispatches concerning 
the battle on Breed's Hill, and he relieved the mind of the 



328 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [^t. 42. 

commander-in-chief of a great burden of uncertainty when 
he informed him that the militia (on whom was to be his 
chief reliance,) behaved nobly in the conflict. " Then the 
liberties of the country are safe !" Washington exclaimed. 
At New Brunswick General Schuyler addressed the fol- 
lowing letter to the president of the New York Provincial 
Congress : 

" Sir : General Washington, with his retinue, is now here, and pro- 
poses to be at Newark by nine to-morrow morning. Tlie situation of 
the men-of-war at New York (we are informed) is such as to make it 
necessary that some precaution shouki be taken in crossing Hudson's 
river, and he woukl take it as a favor if some gentlemen of your body 
Avould meet him to-morrow at Newark, as the advice you may tlien 
give him will determine whether he will continue his proposed route or 
not." 

The Provincial Congress responded by appointing four 
of their number (one of whom was General Montgomery) 
to meet the commander-in-chief and suite at Newark. Pe- 
culiar circumstances produced perplexity. The Congress 
and the municipal authorities of New York city were 
placed in an awkward dilemma. Simultaneous with the 
approach of Washington, the rejuiblican general, came 
Tryon, the royal governor, on his return from England. 
He had just arrived at Sandy Hook. What must be done ? 
To avoid offense honors must be given to both, and yet, as 
public officers, the functions of the two men were severely 
antagonistic, and their respective political friends were 
fiercely hostile. Only two days before, a small party of 
the Sons of Liberty, led by Marinus Willet, had confronted 
an Irish battalion, under Major Moncrief, as it evacuated 
Fort George and was marching, with some boxes of arma 
in wagons, to embark for Boston. The republicans seized 
the arms, conveyed them back to the fort, and took posses- 
sion of that deserted post. On the same day the Congress 



1775.] A DILEMMA. 329 

had received official intelligence of the battle on Breed's 
Hill, and now the respective representatives of the King 
and of his rebellious subjects were approaching, with claims 
to the })ublic courtesy. For a little while these legislators 
were at their wits' end, when it was agreed to honor each 
2)arty and offend nobody by neglect. Colonel Lasher, com- 
mander of the militia, was accordingly ordered to parade 
his regiment, and be "ready to receive either the generals 
or Governor Tryon, whichever should first arrive, and wait 
on both as well as circumstances would allow." 

Fortunately for all parties, the arrival of these public 
characters was not simultaneous. Washington and his 
party landed on the New York side of the Hudson, at 
Colonel Lispenard's seat, about a mile above the town, at 
four o'clock in the afternoon, and were " conducted into 
the city by nine companies of foot, in their uniforms, and 
a greater number of the inhabitants of that city than ever 
appeared on any occasion before."* They were there re- 
ceived by the civil authorities ; and Mr. Livingston, the 
president of the Provincial Congress, pronounced a cau- 
tious and conservative address, to which Washington re- 
plied. Four hours afterward Governor Tryon arrived, and 
was conducted to the house of Hugh Wallace, Esq. The 
civic and military ceremonies of the afternoon were par- 
tially repeated in the evening, and all parties were well 
satisfied with the events of that Sabbath day, the 25th of 
June, 1775. 

Washington and Schuyler spent the entire evening after 
their arrival, in earnest consultation concerning the present 
and prospective affairs of the Northern Department, to 
whose guardianship the latter was assigned. That de- 

* Pennsylvania Journal, quoted by Frank Moore, Diary of the Revolvr 
tion, i. 101. 



330 riiiLip scnuYLKK. [.-et. 42. 

partnicnt included the whole of New York, a province 
then peculiarly situated both geographically and politically. 
It was an important link in the confederacy, uniting the 
New England provinces with those of the middle and 
southern ; and upon its preservation from royal control 
depended the integrity of the union. On its northern bor- 
der was Canada, with its inhabitants practically neutral iu 
I'egard to the great question at issue, and likely to become 
hostile, because British power and influence were vastly 
predominant there. From that province might come speedy 
invasions. The central and western regions of New York 
were filled with the powerful tribes of the Six Confeder- 
ated Nations of Indians, whose almost universal loyalty 
had already been secured by the agency of the Johnson 
family ; while nearer the seaboard and in the metropolis, 
family compacts and commercial interests were jjowerfully 
swayed by traditional and natural attachments to the 
crown, and neutralized to a great extent the influence of 
the few sturdy patriots who, in the face of frowns and 
menaces, and fears of the timid, kept the fires of the 
Revolution burning with continually increasing bright- 
ness. 

New York, in that crisis, thus presented three danger- 
ous elements of weakness, namely, an exposed frontier, a 
wily and powerful internal foe, and a demoralizing loy- 
alty. These visible signs of weakness in this important 
link of the confederacy gave much uneasiness to the com- 
mander-in-chief, and yet he felt a secret confidence that all 
would be well while a man like General Schuyler should 
be charged with the preservation of the strength and vital- 
ity of that link. To that officer, on the same Sabbath 
evening, the commander-in-chief gave the following in- 
structions : 



1775.] INSTRUCTIONS TO SCHUYLER. 331 

" You are to take upon you the command of all the tuoops destined 
for the New York Department, and see that the orders of the Conti- 
nental Congress are carried into execution with as much precision and 
exactness as possible. 

"For your better government therein you are hereby furnished with 
a copy of the instructions given to me by that honorable body. Such 
parts as are within the line of your duty you will please to pay particu- 
lar attention to. Delay no time in occupying the several posts recora- 
menled by the Provincial Congress of this colony, and putting them in 
a fit posture to answer the end designed ; nor delay any time in securing 
the stores which are, or ought to have been, removed from this city by 
order of the Continental Congress. 

" Keep a watchful eye upon Governor Tryon, and if you find him 
directly or Indirectly attempting any measures inimical to the common 
cause, use every means in your power to frustrate his designs. It is 
not in my power at this time to point out the mode by which this end 
is to be accomplished, but if forcible measures are judged necessary re- 
specting the person of the governor, I should have no difficulty in order- 
ing them if the Continental Congress were not sitting ; but as this is 
the case, and the seizing of a governor quite a new thing, and of great 
importance, I must refer you ■ to that body for direction should his Ex- 
cellency make any motion towards increasing the strength of the Tory 
party or arming them against the cause in which we are embarked. la 
like manner watch the movements of the Indian agent, Colonel Guy 
Johnson, and prevent, as far as you can, the effect of his influence to 
our prejudice with the Indians. Obtain the best information you can 
of the temper and disposition of those people, and also of the Cana- 
dians, that a pi-oper line may be marked out to conciliate their good 
opinion or facilitate any future operation. 

" The posts on Lake Cliamplain you will please to have properly 
supplied with provisions and ammunition ; and this I am persuaded you 
will aim at doing on the best terms, to prevent our good cause from 
sinking under a heavy load of expense. You will be pleased, also, to 
make regular returns to me, and to the Continental Congress, once a 
month, and oftenor, as occurrences may require, of the forces under 
your command, and of your provisions and stores, and give me the ear- 
liest advices of every piece of intelligence which you shall judge of im- 
portance to be speedily known. Your own good sense must govern you 
in all matters not particularly pointed out, as I do not wish to circum- 
scribe you within narrow limits." 

On Monday morning Washington left New York for 
Cambridge. Greneral Schuyler accompanied him as far as 



332 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [yET. 42. 

New Rochelle, in Westchester county, where they met and 
conferred with General Wooster, who was in command of 
the troops raised by Connecticut, and which had been sta- 
tioned on the shores of Long Island Sound to protect the 
southern frontier of that colony. A rumor having been 
spread, about ten days before Washington's arrival, that a 
regiment of British troops was soon to be landed in New 
York, the Provincial Congress sitting there invited General 
Wooster to march within five miles of the city for its de- 
fense, and while there to be under their command or of that 
of the Continental Congress. By permission of the govern- 
ment of Connecticut, Wooster complied with their request, 
and was on his way when met by Washington and his offi- 
cers. He arrived in the neighborhood of the city on the 
28th of June, with seven companies of his own regiment 
and that of Colonel Waterbury complete — in all about 
eighteen hundred men. They encamped in the vicinity of 
Murray Hill, then two miles from the city, where they re- 
mained for several weeks. 

General Schuyler left Washington at New Rochelle, and 
returned to New York to enter upon the duties of his im- 
j)ortant command. He immediately addressed a letter to 
the Continental Congress, informing them of the scarcity 
of powder in New York ; of efforts which he should make 
to cultivate a good understanding with the people of Can- 
ada ; and of reports of hostile demonstrations on the part 
of the Six Nations. He also urged them to appoint a 
commissary-general and a quartermaster-general for his 
department ; assured them that Governor Tryon had made 
professions of sorrow because of the unhappy controversy, 
and that he would not create any trouble in his govern- 
ment — professions which he believed to be sincere ; and con- 
cluded by saying, " Be assured, honorable sirs, that I shall 



1775.] THE CANADIANS COURTED. 333 

omit nothing in ray power iiiithfully to discharge the im- 
jDortant trust with which you have honored me. If, how- 
ever, I should be unfortunate, I hope your candor will 
impute it to that want of abilities which I with much 
truth and sincerity avowed previous to my appointment, 
unless you should be convinced that any neglect of duty 
proceeded from wickedness of heart." ■•■■ 

Affairs on Lake Champlain demanded G-eneral Schuy- 
ler's first and most earnest attention, for the possession of 
Canada, either by an alliance in the cause or by conquest, 
was a consideration of the greatest importance. From the 
beginning of the contest that province, inhabited by French 
Roman Catholics, having no religious, social, or national 
sym]3athy with the Anglo-American colonies or the mother 
country, had been an object of great solicitude to both 
parties. The imperial government had made concessions 
by which they stimulated the loyalty of the clergy, and 
through them the laity ; also made promises for the future, 
which caused the Canadians to be half forgetful of past 
animosities. The republican leaders of the colonies in arms 
had, meanwhile, made affectionate appeals to their brethren 
beyond the St. Lawrence to join in seeking a redress of 
grievances by the arguments of reason or the sword. In an 
address to the Canadians, put forth by the Continental Con- 
gress in 1774, the representatives of their sister colonists 
said : 

" We are too well acquainted with the liberality of sentiment distin- 
guishing your nation, to imagine that difference of religion will prejudice 
you against a hearty amity with us. You know tliat the transcendant 
nature of freedom elevates those who unite in her cause above all such 
low-minded infirmities. The Swiss Cantons furnish a memorable proof 
of this truth. Their union is composed of Roman Catholic and Protes- 
tant states, Uving in the utmost concord and peace with one another, 

* MS. Letter Books, Juno 28, 1775. 



334 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [JEt. 42. 

and thereby enabled, ever since they bravely vindicated their freedom, 
to defy and defeat every tyrant that invaded them." 

This address was translated into French and received 
the favorable notice of many leading Canadians. But, un- 
fi)rtunately, the Congress had practiced some duplicity 
which the ethics of diplomacy might excuse, hut it com- 
pletely neutralized the eifects of this appeal. Only five 
days before the appeal was adopted, the Congress had said, 
in their address to the people of England, who delighted in 
shouting "No Popery \" and in burning the effigies of the 
Koman Pontiff and the devil together, as co-workers in 
iniquity : 

" We think the Legislature is not authorized by the constitution to 
establish a religion [alluding to the Quebec Act] fraught vv^ith sanguinary 
tenet--, in any part of the globe ; nor can we suppress our astonishment 
that a British Parliament should ever consent to establish in that coun- 
try [Canada] a religion that has deluged your island in blood, and dis- 
persed impiety, bigotry, persecution, murder, and rebellion, through 
every part of the world." 

This also was translated into French, and was read to 
a numerous audience of intelligent Canadians at Montreal. 
When the reader came to that part which treated of the 
" new modelling of the provinces," said a letter writer, 
" and drew a picture of the Catholic religion and Canadian 
manners, they could not contain their resentment, nor ex- 
press it but in broken curses. ' Oh, the perfidious, double- 
faced Congress !' they exclaimed ; 'Let us bless and obey 
our benevolent prince, whose humanity is consistent and 
extends to ail religions ; let us abhor all who would seduce 
us from our loyalty by acts that would dishonor a Jesuit, 
and whose addresses, like their resolves, are destructive of 
their own objects.' " 

This was a most unfortunate occurrence, and the eflfcct 



1775.] ETHAN ALLEN 'S APPEAL. 335 

of this duplicity was highly detrimental to the republican 
cause for a while. Sir Gruy Carleton, the governor of Can- 
ada, took advantage of the feeling which it produced, and 
used every means in his power to conciliate the Canadians ; 
but their resentment soon cooled, and the smouldering fires 
of national hatred of England, that had been burning for 
a thousand years, glowed too intensely to be quenched. 
When the address of the second Congress was sent to them 
at the close of May, 1775, in their own language and in 
printed form, many a Gallic bosom heaved with aspirations 
for freedom from English rule. Such was the prevailing 
feeling of the Canadians at the period immediately succeed- 
ing the capture of Ticonderoga and Crown Point ; and had 
Congress then acted upon the earnest advice of Colonels 
Etlian Allen and Benedict Arnold, who were boldly assert- 
ing the supremacy of the republicans on Lake Champlain, 
the conquest of Canada might have been easily and com- 
pletely accomplished. The former, with keen perception 
that proved to be almost prophetic in its suggestions, wrote 
a characteristic letter to the Provincial Congress of New 
York on the 2d of June. After spe:iking of the forts on 
Lake Champlain as the key "either of Canada or our own 
country," he said : 

" The koy ig ours as }''et, and provided the colonies would suddenly 
push an army of two or three thousand men into Canada, they might 
make a conquest of all that would oppose them in the extensive province 
of Quebec, unless reinforcements from Englaml should prevent it. Such 
a diversion would weaken General Gage or in=!ure us Canada. I would 
lay my life on it, that with fifteen hundred men I would take Montreal. 
Provided I could be thus furnished, and an army could take the fiehl, it 
would be no insuperable difficulty to take Quebec. 

" This object should be pursued, though it should take ten thousand 
men, for England can not spare but a certain uumbor of her troops; 
na^, she has but a small nurnhor tiiat is iHsciplinod, and it is long as it 
is broad : the more that are sent to Quebec the less can she send to Bos- 



336 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [^t. 42. 

ton, or any other part of the continent. And there will be this un- 
speakable advantage, in directing the war into Canada, that instead of 
turning the Canadians and Indians against us, as is wrongly suggested by 
many, it would unavoidably attach and connect them to our interest. 
Our friends in Canada can never help us until we first help them, except 
in a passive or inactive manner. There arc now about seven hundred 
regular troops in Canada. 

" It may be thought that to push an army into Canada would be too 
premature and imprudent. If so, I propose to make a stand at the Isle 
aux Noix, which the French fortified by intrenchments the last war, and 
greatly fatigued our large army to take it. It is about fifteen miles on this 
side of St. John's, and is an island in the river, on which a small artillery 
placed would command it. An establishment on a frontier so far north 
would not only better secure our own frontier, but put it into our power 
better to work our policy with Canadians and Indians, or, if need be, 
to make incursions into the territory of Canada, the same as they could 
into our country provided they had the sovereignty of Lake Charaplain, 
and had erected headquarters at or near Skenesborough. Our only hav- 
ing it in our power thus to make incursions into Canada might probably 
be the very reason why it would be unnecessary so to do, even if the 
Canadians should prove more refractory than I think for. 

"Lastly, I would propose to you to raise a small regiment of Ean- 
gers, whicii I could easily <lo, and that mostly in the counties of Albany 
and Charlotte, pi-ovided you should think it expedient to grant comnns- 
sions, and thus regulate and put them under pay. Probably you may 
think this an impertinent proposal. It is truly the first I have ever 
asked of the government, and if granted, I shall be zealously ambitious 
to conduct for the best good of my country and the honor of the gov- 
ernment." 

No doubt the Provincial Congress did think it an " im- 
pertinent proposal," coming from a man who, by an assem- 
bly similar to their own, had, only the year before, been 
pronounced an outlaw, and placed under legal sentence of 
death as a traitor to the State. It was the first public pro- 
position to invade Canada, and was made at a moment 
when timid prudence caused both the Provincial and the 
Continental Congress not only to hesitate, but to pointedly 
condemn any movement toward a forcible possession of the 
territory beyond the St. Lawrence. They considered the 



1775.] EVENTS ON LAKE CHAM PLAIN. 337 

letter a bold and injudicious production of an ambitious 
and reckless man, intoxicated with momentary success and 
who ought to be checked rather than encouraged. But in 
less than ninety days afterward, the Continental Congress 
authorized an invasion of Canada ; and the whole people 
who longed for freedom, from the far northeast to the ex- 
treme south, approved the measure. The battle on Breed's 
Hill and other circumstances had changed public opinion ; 
and the patriots had cause to regret that the voice of Col- 
onel Allen had not sooner been heeded. 

Allen and his confederates, who captured the lake fort- 
resses, had counselled much together on the importance and 
feasibility of the conquest of Canada, and had made suc- 
cessful movements with that end in view. Immediately 
after the capture of those posts, a party of Green Moun- 
tai7i Boys had surprised Skenesborough, at the head of the 
lake, and^ade prisoners of Maj-or Skene, a son of the pro- 
prietor,* and more than sixty other persons, and taken 
away with them a schooner and several bateaus. The for- 
mer was immediately manned by Colonel Arnold, with 
some new recruits, and armed with a few guns from Ticon- 
deroga. Thus equipped he sailed northward, followed by 
Colonel Allen and one hundred and fifty men in bateaus, 
to attack St. John's on the Sorel, the outlet of Lake Cham- 
plain. 

Arnold's schooner outsailed Allen's bateaus. At the 
foot of the lake he left her, and with thirty-five men in 
two bateaux, he pushed down the Sorel to St. John's. At 

* Philip Skene, father of the Major, arrived from England early in June, 
with a commission of Governor of Ticonderoga and Crown Point, and their 
dependencies, and was seized before he landed, by order of the Continental 
Congress, it having been rumored that he was authorized to raise a regiment 
in America. He was afterward released, and was living at Slvcnesborough 
wlien Burgoyne invaded the upper Hudson valley, in the summer of 1777. 



338 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [.-Et. 42. 

BIX o'clock the following morning ho surprised the garrison 
there, which consisted of a sergeant and twelve men ; cap- 
tured a King's sloop, with seven men ; destroyed five ba- 
teaux ; seized four others ; put on board the sloop some 
valuable stores from the fort, and within two hours after 
his arrival, sailed with a favorable breeze for Ticonderoga, 
with his prisoners and booty. He met Allen and they held 
a council, the result of which was that Arnold and his 
prizes proceeded to Ticonderoga, and Allen went on to St. 
John's to garrison the fort with a hundred men, and act as 
circumstances sTiould require. 

Eumors reached Arnold, before he left St. John's, that 
a large reinforcement for the garrison there was hourly ex- 
pected from Montreal and Chamblce. These rumors be- 
came certain information soon after the arrival of Allen, 
who, learning that the approaching i)arty was more nu- 
merous than his own, crossed the river, and therq, early on 
the following morning, was attacked by about two hundred 
men. He Hed to his boats, and escaped to Ticonderoga 
without losing a man. Thus ended a series of exploits, 
bold in conception and gallant in execution. Within eight 
days two strong fortresses with their dependencies were 
wrested from the British by a handful of half-disciplined 
provincials, acting without special autliority or specific 
aim ; and the little fleet of the enemy on tlie lake — his 
chief dependence there — was captured or destroyed in a 
day. 

The British authorities in Canada were alarmed at tliese 
movements, and Governor Carleton sent a force of four hun- 
dred men — regulars, Canadians, and Indians — to St. John's 
with the intention of recapturing Crown Point and Ticon- 
deroga. Arnold, thirsting for opportunity to win by valor 
what he was deprived of by necessity, namely, the chief com- 



1775.] ARNOLD'S ASPIRATIONS. 339 

mand on the lakes, was delighted when he heard of these pre- 
parations, and without waiting for orders from any source, 
he proceeded in fitting out the vessels in his possession to 
confront the enemy. Having armed and manned them, he 
appointed his subordinate officers, and, as self-constituted 
commodore of the first Continental Navy, he took post at 
Crown Point, with one hundred and fifty men in the ves- 
sels, to await the expected foe. He also assumed the com- 
mand of the garrison at Crown Point, and became a sort 
of amphibious leader, ready to fight on land or water. He 
also busied himself in sending off the ordnance at Crown 
Point to the army at Cambridge, and in despatching emis- 
saries to Montreal and the Caughnawaga Indians in that 
vicinity, to ascertain the feelings of the Canadians and 
savages toward the republicans in arms, and also to gain 
intelligence of the actual state of Carleton's preparations. 

Arnold, like Allen, was anxious to invade Canada. He 
disliked the latter and his Green Mountain Boys, and 
avoided all cooperation with him as much as possible. 
Unmindful, and perhaps ignorant of the proposition of 
Allen to the Provincial Congress of New York concerning 
an invasion of Canada, Arnold wrote to the Continental Con- 
gress on the 13th of June, and laid before them a plan of 
operations Avhereby the conquest of that province might be 
secured. He asserted that persons in Montreal had agreed 
to open the gates of that city, when a continental army of 
sufficient force to maintain it should appear before it ; as- 
sured the Congress that Carleton could not muster more 
than five hundred and fifty effective men ; and offered to 
lead an expedition to the St. Lawrence and hold himself 
responsible for the consequences. 

As no troops had been raised in New York at the time 
of the capture of the lake fortresses, the Congress of that 



340 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [JEt. 42. 

province accepted the generous ofifer of Trumbull, the gov- 
ernor of Connecticut, to send a sufficient force, with sup- 
plies, to hold them until New York should be ready to 
perform that service. Connecticut had, from the begin- 
ning, acted in concert with Massachusetts in levying sol- 
diers, making military preparations, and providing means 
for the support of an army ; and at this time the colony 
was alive with excitement on account of the result of the 
expedition to Lake Champlain. 

Governor Trumbull, on the 30th of May, placed one 
thousand men in charge of Colonel Benjamin Hinman, 
with orders to march for Ticonderoga. These composed the 
fourth regiment raised by Connecticut. At about the same 
time, the general committee at Albany resolved to raise 
eiglit hundred men " for the defense of American liberty," 
and three companies were enlisted in the course of a few 
days, and marched for Lake Champlain. Aware of the 
approach of Hinman's regiment, and earnestly desiring the 
general command of a considerable force, Arnold, in a post- 
Bcrij)t to his letter to the Continental Congress, evinced 
that desire, and at the same time his aversion to Allen and 
the men under his immediate command.* He proposed, in 
order to give satisfaction to the different colonies, that Col- 
onel Hinman's regiment should form part of the army ; 
that the remainder should be composed of five hundred 
New York troops, and five hundred of his own regiment, 

* Arnold affected great contempt for Allen and his men. On the day 
after the surrender of Ticonderoga, he wrote to the Massachusetts Committee 
of Safety, saying : " Colonel Allen is a proper man to lead his own wild 
people, but entirely unacquainted with military service." And in a letter to 
the Committee of Safety at Albany, giving an account of his operations at St. 
John's, he speaks of meeting, on his return, "one Colonel Allen, with a party 
of near ono hundred men, who were determined to proceed to St. John's and 
make a stand there," etc., and subscribed himself " Commander at Ticon- 
deroga." 



i"5] A FEUD HEALED. 341 

including the seamen and marines on the vessel under his 
command, " but no Green Mountain Boys." 

At this time Colonel Allen and his lieutenant, Seth 
Warner, were in Philadelphia for the purpose of procuring 
pay for their soldiers from the Continental Congress, and 
to solicit authority to raise a new regiment for the public 
service in the New Hampshire Grants. The appearance of 
these heroes of the north produced a sensation in that city. 
They were introduced upon the floor of Congress, and per- 
mitted to make their communications to that body orally. 
Allen talked long and earnestly in his quaint style and 
slow-spoken sentences respecting affairs on the northern 
frontiers, and the dangers to which the confederacy and the 
cause of freedom in America would be exposed when the 
British regulars in Canada should be reinforced ; and he 
again urged the great necessity of an immediate invasion 
of the province, while the aim of the imperial government 
was comparatively weak, and the friendship of the Cana- 
dians for the revolted colonies was strong. Ilis words had 
a powerful effect, and on the very day when Congress re- 
ceived Arnold's letter, in which he expressed an ill-natured 
desire that " no Green Mountain Boys" should be employed 
in an invasion of Canada, the Continental Congress 

" Resolved, That it be recommended to the convention of New York, 
tliat they, consulting with General Schuyler, employ in the army to be 
raised for the defense of America those called Green Mountain Boys, 
under such officers as the said Green Mountain Boys shall choose."* 

The wishes of Allen and Warner in regard to pay were 

also complied with, and they departed for New York with 

cheerfulness, to present themselves before the Provincial 

Congress there. Their appearance on such an errand pro- 

* Journals of Congress, June 17, 1775. 



342 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [^t. 42 

duced embarrassment in that body. They had been pro- 
scribed as outlaws but a few months before ; now no one 
doubted then- patriotism. What should be done ? There 
were members of that Congress who had taken an active 
part against these very men. Could they give their old 
enemies a friendly greeting ? The prejudices of these 
members, and the scruples of others who could not per- 
ceive any propriety in holding public conference with men 
whom the laws of the land had declared to be rioters and 
felons, produced a strong opposition to their admission to 
the legislative hall. Debates on the subject ran high, until 
Captain Sears, the staunch leader of the Sons of Liberty, 
moved that " Ethan Allen be admitted to the floor of the 
House." The motion was carried by a large majority, as 
was a similar resolution in regard to Warner. The old 
feud was instantly healed. Tiiese men were received as 
heroes and patriots, and the New York Provincial Congress 
decreed that a regiment of Green Mountain Boys, live hun- 
dred strong, should be raised. The subject was referred to 
General Schuyler, who soon afterward proclaimed the reso- 
lution in the New Hampshire Grants. With grateful hearts 
Allen and his companion journeyed to Bennington, and 
the latter afterward wrote to the New York Congress, 
saying : 

" When I reflect on the unhappy controversy which has many years 
subsisted between the government of New York and the settlers on the 
New Hampshire Grants, and also contemplate the friendship and union 
wliich lias lately taken place, in making a united resistance against min- 
isterial vengeance and slavery, I can not but indulge fond hopes of a 
reconciliation. To promote this salutary end I shall contribute my in- 
fluence, assuring you that your respectful treatment, not only to Mr. 
Warner and myself, but to the Green Mountain Boys in general, in 
forming tliem into a battalion, is by them duly regarded ; and I ■will be 
responsible that they will reciprocate this favor by boldly hazarding their 
lives, if need be, in the common cause of America." 



1775.] CANADA TO BE INVADED. 343 

Colonel Hiniiian arrived at Ticonderoga, with four hun- 
dred Connecticut troops, at about th.e middle of June, as- 
sumed the general command, and held that position for a 
month, when he was formally superseded by General Schuy- 
ler. There were in the field, in the colony of New York 
during that time, less than three thousand men fit for duty, 
and yet, with this small force, preparations were made for 
the invasion of Canada.* The visit of Allen and Warner 
to the Continental Congress, and concurrent circumstances, 
had produced a great change in the views of that body, and 
on the day when General Schuyler parted with Washington 
at New Rochelle, and returned to New York to enter upon 
his duties as commander of the Northern department, the 
General Congress, by unanimous resolution, ordered Gen- 
eral Schuyler, if he should " find it practicable, and not 
disagreeable to the Canadians, immediately to take posses- 
sion of St, John's and Montreal, and pursue such other 
measures in Canada as might have a tendency to promote 
the peace and security of these provinces."f 

These words were mild and cautious, but were understood 
as conveying an explicit order for the invasion of Canada. 
They reached General Schuyler on the 30th of the month, 
and on the same day he wrote as follows to the Continental 
Congress : 

* According to General Schuyler's first returns, dated July 1, 1775, which 
he considered imperfect because of a want of entirely reliable material, the 
troops in the colony of New York mustered as follows : Of Brigadier General 
Wooster's regiment, at New York, 582 ; Colonel David Waterbury's regiment, 
at Naw York, 982 ; of Colonel Benjamin Hinmau's regiment, at Ticonderoga, 
495, at Grown Point, 302, at the Landing, foot of Lake George, 102, and at 
Fori George, head of Lake George, 104 ; of Massachusetts Bay foi'cos, at Ti- 
conderoga, 40, at Crown Point, 109, and at Fort George, 25 ; of the Now York 
forces, at Fort George, 205. 

f Journals of Congress, June 27, 1775. 



344 PHILIP SCHUYLER, [^t. 42. 

" In obedience to the resolutions of Congress, I shall, without delay, 
repair to Ticonderoga. It will, however, be necessary, previous to my 
departure from hence, that I sliould take order to have the various arti- 
cles necessary to carry into execution the views of the Congress, sent 
after me with all possible expedition.* These will probably detain me 
until Monday. The success of the intended operation will evidently 
depend so much on dispatch that I am sorry I do not think myself at 
liberty to move the troops now here to Albany without the immediate 
consent of Congress. " At this place I do not apprehend they can be 
wanted ; at Albany they would greatly facilitate and expedite the ser- 
vice, as well as save expensej by their assistance in the transportation ot 
stores and provisions, and by their aid in building boats, carriages, etc. 
And as they must ultimately go on this service, the forces at Ticonde- 
roga being vastly inadequate to the enterprise, I wish the sense of the 
Congress with all possible dispatch, and therefore I send this by express .t 

* On the 3d of July General Schuyler addressed a letter to the New York 
Provincial Congress, inclosing a list of necessary supplies for the army on the 
lakes. This first estimate for an army of between tliree and four thousand 
men is such a fair specimen of materials used in such service, that we give a 
copy of it for the gratification of the curious reader : 

" 50 swivel guns ; 2 tuns musket balls or lead ; what powder can be 
spared ; 2 dozen bullet moulds; soldiers' tents for 3,500 men, 6 men to a tent; 
a proportionable number of bell tents ; oSicors' tents ; tents for two general 
officers and their suite; 15 casks of 24-penny nails; 10 casks of 20-penny; 

15 casks of 10-penny ; 1,000 weight of spike nails ; 1 tun of oakum ; 30 bar- 
rels of pitch ; 300 felling axes, oxclusivo of those for the camp use of the 
soldiers; 200 bill-hooks; 200 spades; 200 shovels; 150 pick-axes; 20 crow- 
bars; 20 mason's trowels; 20 do. hammers; 2 tuns of bar iron; 500 weight 
of steel; 100 set of men's harness (believe there is some in Connecticut); 3 
seta of gunsmith's tools, exclusive of those for the regimental armorer ; 3 sets 
of blacksmith's tools; 50 broad axes; 20 wliip saws; 20 cross-cut saws; 
4 sets of blocks and tackles, strong; 50 lbs twine; 4 fishing nets, with ropes- 
10 bolts of sail cloth; fifty oil-eloths, well painted; 1,500 oars, 12, 14, and 

16 feet long; 500 fatlioms of tjtrred rope, for painters for boats; half a ton of 
tarred rope, sorted ; 4 chests of carpenter's tools ; 28 mill saws, for Dutch 
niiUs; 7 do. for English mills; 5 dozen miU saw files; an assortment of arti- 
cles in the artillery way; paper; shot cannisters; fusees; 1 dozen Ume sieves ; 
50 small truck carriages, if they arc ready made Iicre; 10 do. for field pieces, 
if do. ; necessaries for a hospital ; 3 months provisions for 4,000 men. Much 
of the meat kind to be fresh, as it may be driven to the army, and save the 
expense of transportation ; whatever arms can be spared ; 20 grass scythes ; 
flints." — MS. Letter Books. 

f MS. Letter Books, June 30, 1775. 



CHAPTER XX. 

General Schuyler left New York for Ticonderoga 
on Tuesday, the fourth of July, and was soon afterward fol- 
lowed by Richard Varick, as secretary, John Macpherson, 
as aid-de-camp, and Reverend John Peter Testard as French 
interpreter for the General, and chaplain to the New York 
troops. On the previous day he had reviewed Colonel 
Lasher's battalion of militia, accompanied by Generals 
Wooster and Montgomery, in the presence of quite a large 
concourse of ladies and gentlemen ; and afterward received 
at his quarters the personal courtesies of most of the leading 
men of the city, who had espoused the republican cause. 

General Schuyler had already addressed a letter to Col- 
onel Hinman, apprising him of his (Sohuyler's) appoint- 
ment to the chief command in the North, and giving him 
some instructions concerning affairs on tlie Canadian fron- 
tier ; and on the day before he left he addressed the fol- 
lowing letter to General Wooster, in addition to particular 
instructions which he had given him five days before :* 

* In these instructions ho directed Wooster to koep up very exact discip- 
line, to prevent jealousies between the troops and the citizens; not to allow 
any soldiers to go into town without a pass, and to discourage going alto- 
gether, because of the prevalence of the small-pox there ; to call the rolls 
twice a-day ; for all to pay the utmost attention to dress and cleanliness ; to 
perfect the troops in military exercises ; and drunkenness or disorderly con- 
duct, and despoiling orchards, to be discountenanced and punished. 



346 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [,Et. 42. 

" America has recourse to arms merely for her safely and defense, 
and in resisting oppression slie will not oppress. She wages no war of 
ambition, content if she can only retain the fair inheritance of English 
law and English liberty. Such being the purity of her intentions, no 
stain must be suffered to disgrace our arms. We are soldiers ambitious 
only to aid in restoring the violated rights of citizens, and these secureil, 
we are to return instantly to the business and employments of civilized 
life. Let it be a truth deeply impressed on the minds of every one of 
us who bear arms, and let us evince to the world that in contending for 
liberty W'e abhor licentiousness ; that in resisting the misrule of tyrants 
we shall support government honestly administered. All unnecessary 
violence to the persons or property of his Majesty's subjects must therefore 
most strictly he forbidden and avoided. 

" The magistracy of the country ar(»not only to be respecte-d, but 
aided in all cases not incompatible with the great object of opposing that 
oppression which called us to defense. 

" Let this be the magm;t for directing the conduct of the army under 
my command. And if doubts arise on any particular occasion, and the 
emergency will permit, advise with the Congress of the colony in which 
you may act, and if time allows, apply to the Continental Congress and 
the general-in-chief. Only orders as general as these can be given re- 
specting events not in immediate view. 

" Close attention to the end of the service will direct to the means 
of attaining it. Let us act as becomes the virtuous citizen, who seeks 
for the aid of righteous Heaven and the just applause of an impartial 
world. Liberty, Safety, and Peace, are our objects — the establishment 
of the Constitution, and not the lust of Dominion. 

" These are sentiments the goodness of your heart and your attach- 
ment to our righteous cause will inculcate. They are principles I wish 
deeply implanted in the heart of every soldier I have the honor lo 
command. They will lead us to glory — they will merit for us the esteem 
of our countrymen."* 

General Scliuyler and suite readied Albany about one 
o'clock on Sunday, the 9th of July. He was received at 
the landing by the members of the general comnlittee of 
the city and county, the City Troop of horse, under the 
command of Captain Tcnbroeck, the Association Company, 
commanded by Captain Bleccker, and by the principal in- 
habitants of the city. They bestowed upon him the honors 

* MS. Letter Books, July 3, 1775. 



1775.] PUBLIC RECEPTION, 347 

clue to his rank, and escorted him to the City Hall, when 
tlie committee, through Dr. Samuel Stringer, the tempo- 
rary chairman, presented to him the following address : 

" Permit us, sir, to express our fullest approbation upon the appoint- 
ment by which your country has raised you to the chief military com- 
mand in this colony. While we deplore, as the greatest misfortune, the 
necessity of such an appointment, we have the utmost confidence that 
you have accepted of power for the glorious purpose of exercising it for 
the reestabhshment of the liberties of America, at present invaded by 
a deluded and despotic ministry. 

" Born and educated amongst us, in a country which freedom has 
raised to a state of opulence and envy, you, whose principles are known, 
whose sentiments have been invariably opposed to power, afford us the 
pleasing prospect of the unremitted exertion of your knowledge, pru- 
dence, and experience, for the restoration of peace upon constitutional 
principles. When the sword is rendered useless, except against our na- 
tural enemies ; when we shall see yon restored to the peaceful state of 
a private citizen ; when this happy period shall arrive, then, and not till 
then, will Americans enjoy the glorious blessings of freedom." 

To this address the General replied as follows : 

'' I feel myself so sensibly afifected by this public and friendly ad- 
dress, that whilst my heart overflows with sentiments of gratitude, I 
want words properly to convey my thanks. 

" The honor you do me in the approbation which you are pleased to 
express of my appointment to a military command, confirms me in tlie 
pleasing reflection that I shall experience your assistance in a continu- 
ance of those generous exertions by which you have already so con- 
spicuously manifested your love for your country, and your zeal for its 
cause. 

" I most sincerely and unfeignedly deplore with you the unhappy 
occasion which has forced America to have recourse to arms for her 
safety and defense. Ambitious only to aid in restoring her violated 
rights, I shall most cheerfully return my sword to the scabbard, and, 
with alacrity, resume the employment of civil hfe, whenever my consti- 
tuents shall direct, or whenever a happy reconciliation with the parent 
sta.te shall take place. 

" That indulgent Heaven may guide us through this tempestuous 
scene, and speedily restore peace, harmony, and mutual confidence to 
every part of the British empire, is the warmest wish of my heart." 



348 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [^t. 42. 

General Seliuyler was then escorted to his residence, 
half a mile south of the town, (now at the head of Schuy- 
ler street,) by the whole party that received him, and the 
city was illuminated in the evening. Beloved by his fellow- 
citizens as a man, and fully appreciated as a representative, 
his return to them clothed in such extraordinary honor and 
dignity excited their most ardent enthusiasm. This took 
the shape of violent indignation the next morning, when 
the following publication appeared anonymously, Avith the 
evident intention of casting ridicule upon the reception 
proceedings the previous day : 

" The mode of a late very Extraordinary and very Grand Pro- 
cession : 

" I. The Congressional General. 
"II. The Deputy Chairman, and who is only chairman ^ro tempore. 
"m. Mr. Tenbroeck — through a mistake. 
" IV. The Chairman. 

" V. The Committee. 
" VI. The troop of Horse, most beautiful and grand. Some horses 
long-tailed, some bob-tailed, and some without any tails, and attended 
with the melodious sound of an incomparably fine trumpet. 
" VII. The Association."* 

In consequence of this publication, the Committee of 
Safety, Protection, and Correspondence held an early meet- 
ing, and instituted a diligent inquiry after the author of 
the paper, which they pronounced a " scandalous reflection" 
on the reception proceedings. He was believed to be some 
concealed Tory, and for three days the public mind Avas 
greatly disturbed. Then, by his own confession, it was 
discovered that the author was Peter W. Yates, a member 
of the republican committee. In a moment of indiscreet 
plaj^ulness he had 'cast that harmless missile among his 
fellow-townsmen. He made a most humble apology to his 
associates of the committee for his indiscretion, and sol- 

* Minutes of the Albany Comiuilteo. 



1775.] GLOOMY PROSPECTS. 349 

eranly disclaimed " any intention to injure the cause of 
liberty ;" but the public mind would not be so readily ap- 
peased. The city was in an uproar, and at several public 
meetings Mr. Yates' expulsion from the committee was 
demanded. He resigned, but this did not satisfy the peo- 
ple. Nothing less than his public apology or his public 
disgrace would be accepted, and he accordingly appeared 
before his assembled fellow-citizens and made the required 
acknowledgment.* This event exhibits the extreme sensi- 
tiveness of the public mind at that period, when every man 
was suspicious of his neighbor, and two of a household 
often disagreed, and sometimes cherished the most bitter 
feud. 

Greneral Schuyler found the aspect of every thino- con- 
nected with the republican cause in northern New York 
dark and unpromising. Kumor after rumor came that the 
Indians in the Mohawk valley and beyond were becomino^ 
extensively disaffected toward the republican cause through 
the influence of Guy Johnson, the Indian agent, with whom 
the New York Provincial Congress had recently held a 
somewhat spicy correspondence. Johnson professed peace- 
able intentions, but his movements for several months had 
been so suspicious, that Tryon county, which embraced the 
whole of the Mohawk region west of Schenectada, was filled 
with alarm. He had held a council with the Indians at 
Guy Park, (his residence, about a mile from the present 
village of Amsterdam, on the Mohawk,) in May, which 
was attended by delegates from the Albany and Tryon 
county republican committees. The result was unsatisfac- 
tory to all parties. The delegates, knowing that the In- 
dians had been tampered with, mistrusted them ; and 
Johnson, alarmed by the events at Lexington and Concord, 
* Life of Peter Van Schaack, by his son, Heury C. Vaa Scbaack, page G8. 



350 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [Mr. 42. 

tmd by intiinatious which he had received that the Provincial 
Congress contemplated the seizure of liis person, broke up 
the council abruptly and called another at the German 
Flats, further up the Mohawk, whither himself and family 
immediately proceeded. But the council was not held 
there, and Johnson, with his family and the Indians, 
pushed on to Fort Stanwix (now Rome), and from there 
went into the wilderness far beyond the verge of civiliza- 
tion. He visited the different tribes in their habitations ; 
sat with them at their council fires ; estranged the Oneidas 
from the Reverend Mr. Kirkland, their beloved missionary ; 
and weakened every bond by which the Six Nations had 
been held by the republican committees. And while he 
was thus stirring up the savages to an active alliance with 
the English authorities in Canada, Sir John Johnson was 
at Johnson Hall (which he had fortified), exerting a less 
public but equally powerful influence as brigadier general 
of the Tryon county militia, and having at his beck a large 
body of loyalists. 

From the far north intelligence came to Schuyler that 
the Caughnawaga Indians had taken up the hatchet for 
the enemy, and Colonel Hinman reported that every thing 
was in the utmost confusion at Ticonderoga, owing to the 
quarrels of officers and the scarcity of supplies. 

" The unhappy controversy" Schuyler wrote to the Continental 
Congress, " which has subsisted between the officers at Ticonderogfa in 
reunion to the command, has, I am informed, thrown every thing there 
into vast confusion. Troops have been dismissed ; others reTuse to serve 
if this or that man commands; the sloop is without either captain or 
pilot, both of which are dismissed or come away. I shall hurry up 
there much sooner than the necessary preparations here would otiier- 
wise permit, that I may attempt to introduce some kind of order and 
discipline among them."* 

* MS. Letter Books. 



1115.] AENOLD CURBED. 351 

The ambitious, unscrupulous, and quanelsonie Arnold 
was the cause of all the difficulty. We have already ob- 
served his assumptions of command and his offensive bear- 
ing toward other officers, especially toward Colonel Allen, 
who had been, by the committee in charge of the expedi- 
tion against Ticonderoga, formally placed in supreme com- 
mand there. When Colonel Hinman arrived, he too was 
subjected to like indignities. Arnold refused to give up to 
him the command of either Ticonderoga or Crown Point, 
claiming as before to be the chief by virtue of his commis- 
sion from the Massachusetts authorities. Confusion en- 
sued. Allen and Warner, and most of the Green Mountain 
Boys, returned home, and others became disgusted. Mean- 
while, a statement of his conduct had been sent to the 
Legislatures of Massachusetts and Connecticut, and his 
character was portrayed in most unfavorable colors. No 
doubt his many faults were magnified, and his few virtues 
overlooked ; yet a picture of his arrogance and ill-nature 
could not be over-drawn. The Massachusetts Provincial 
Congress believed their confidence in him had been mis- 
placed, and appointed a committee to investigate all the 
charges against Arnold. 

When that committee arrived Arnold was at Crown 
Point. Utterly ignorant of the nature of their errand, he 
received them courteously and talked to them enthusiastic- 
ally of his plans for the future and his expected conquests. 
When the object of their visit was made known, his indig- 
nation was fearfully aroused. He felt conscious of having 
performed good and gallant service, and, almost doubting 
their allegations, he demanded a sight of their instructions. 
These increased his rage. He found that his inquisitors 
were commissioned to ascertain his " spirit, capacity, and 
conduct," and were clothed with authority to order his re- 



352 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [^r. 42. 

turn to Massachusetts to give a full account of his transac- 
tions ; or if he remained, to direct him to he subservient to 
Colonel Hinman, "whom Trumbull had appointed chief of 
the troops on service approved by the Congress of the prov- 
ince within whose domain the fortresses stood. Arnold was 
greatly enraged. He stamhed, swore, cursed congresses and 
kings, fate, and all committee-men, and declared, with ter- 
rible oaths, that he would be second to no man. Throwing 
up his commission he discharged his men on the spot, and 
these, becoming indignant in turn, some of them refused to 
serve under any other leader. Others, instigated by Arnold, 
threatened to sail for St. John's, independent of all author- 
ity ; while the majority, more thoughtful and patriotic, 
joined the corps of Colonel Easton. Arnold treated, the 
committee with the greatest rudeness, but by judicious 
management they persuaded his men to acquiesce in their 
arrangements, while the indignant commander proceeded 
to Cambridge, to lay before Washington his complaint of 
ill-usage by the Provincial Congress of Massachusetts. 

On the morning of the 13 th of July, General Schuyler 
proceeded northward as far as his country seat at Saratoga, 
where his family were then residing, and made hasty pre- 
parations for his departure for Ticonderoga. Toward mid- 
night he received a dispatch by express from the Albany 
Committee, giving him intelligence, which they had just 
received from Colonel Nicholas Herkimer, in the interior, 
that full eight hundred savages, under Joseph Brant and 
Walter Butler, had coalesced with the Scotch Highlanders 
and other Tories under Sir John Johnson, for the purpose 
of making forays upon the republican settlei^s in the Mo- 
hawk valley, and in cutting off supi)lies for the army on 
Lake Champlain. Brant, or Thaycndanegea, was the Mo- 
hawk chief who became both famous and notorious as the 



1775.] INDIANS AND TORIES. 353 

leader of his people upon bloody scouts, and who, with 
Walter Butler, one of the most cruel of white savages, 
made Try on county " a dark and bloody ground" for sev- 
eral years. His sister, Molly Brant, had been first the 
concubine and then the wife of Sir William Johnson. 

This startling intelligence from the interior detained 
Schuyler at Saratoga for two or three days. He had or- 
dered Captain. Van Dyck of Schenectada to march with 
his company to Lake George. That order was counter- 
manded at the suggestion of the Albany Committee, and 
he directed Van Dyck to march immediately up the Mo- 
hawk valley to the I'elief of the people of Tryon county. 
" On whatever duty you may be," Schuyler wrote, " I 
earnestly recommend vigilance and care, that you may not 
meet with the disgrace of a surprise. Be careful that your 
men do not commit any outrages on the inhabitants whom 
you are going to protect."* 

The General's mind was relieved by a letter from the 
Albany Committee, written on the following day, inform- 
ing him that the intelligence they had received from the 
interior was exaggerated. Yet the movements of Guy 
Johnson caused much uneasiness. He was evidently work- 
ing upon the Indian mind unfavorably to the republican 
cause. With the pretext of an exercise of his duties as 
Indian agent, he had called a great council of the Six Na- 
tions at Ontario, in the heart of the country of the fierce 
Cayugas and Senecas. His family had gone with him into 
the wilderness, followed by a large train of Mohawk war- 
riors. He was accompanied by Brant (whom Sir William 
Johnson had caused to be educated at Dr. Wheelock's school, 
in Connecticut,) as his secretary, and by Colonel John But- 
ler and his son Walter. There he met almost fourteen 

* Autograph draft of letter, July 14, 1775. 



354 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [^r. 42. 

hundred savages, and held a conference, which, to him, was 
very satisfactory. 

From that rude council chamber Johnson wrote the 
following letter to the president of the New York Provin- 
cial Congress : 

Ontario, July 8, 1775. 

" Sir : Though I received your letter from the Provincial Congress 
several days ago, I had not a good opportunity to answer it till now. I 
suppose, however, this will reach you safe, notwithstanding all the rest 
of my correspondence is interrupted by ignorant impertiaents. 

'■ As to tlie endeavor you speak of to reconcile the unhappy differ- 
ences between the parent State and these colonic?, be assured I ardently 
wish to see them. As yet, I am sorry to say, I have not been able to 
distX)ver any attempt of that kind but that of the Assembly, the only 
true legal representatives of the people ; and as to the individuals who 
you say officiously interrupt (in my quarter) the mode and measures you 
think necessary for these salutary purposes, I am really a stranger to them. 
If you mean myself you must have been grossly imposed on. I once, 
indeed, went with reluctance, at the request of several of the principal 
inhabitants, to one of the people's meetings, which I found had been 
called by an itinerant New England leather-dresser, and conducted by 
others, if possible, more contemptible. I had, therefore, little inclination 
to revisit such men, or attend to their absurdities. And altiiough I did 
not incline to think that you, gentlemen, had formed any designs against 
me, yet it is most certain that such designs were formed. Of this I re- 
ceived a clear account by express from a friend near Albany, which was 
soon corroborated by letters from other quarters, particularly one from 
a gentleman of the Committee at Philadelpliia, a captain in your levies, 
w^ho was pretty circumstantial, and since I have had the like from many 
others. I have likewise found that mean instruments were obviously 
employed to disturb the minds of the Indians, to interrupt the ordinary 
discharge of my duties and prevent their receiving messages they had 
long since. expected from me. To enter into a minute detail of all the 
falsehoods propagated and all the obstructions I met with, though it 
could not fail astonishing any gentlemen disposed to discountenance 
them, would far exceed the limits of a letter or the time I have to spare, 
as I am now finishing my congress, entirely to my satisfaction, with 
1,318 warriors, who came hither to the only place where they could 
transact business or receive favors without interruptions, and who are 
much disatrsQed at finding that the goods which I was necessitated to 
send for to Montreal were obliged to be ordered back by the merchant, 



1775.] JOHNSON AND THE SIX NATIONS. 355 

to prevent his being insulted or his property invaded by the mistaken 
populace — that their ammunition was stopped at Albany — the peisons 
on this communication employed in purchasing provisions for the Con- 
gress insulted, and all my letters, as well as even some trifling articles 
for the use of my own table stopped ; and this moment the Mayor of 
Albany assured me that he was the other day aroused out of his bed, 
at a certain Mr. Thompson's, above the German Fiats, by one Herkimer, 
and fifteen others, who pursued him to search for any things he might 
have for me. 

" You may be assured, sir, that this is far from being agreeable to the 
Indians ; that it might have produced very disagreeable consequences 
long since, had not compassion for a deluded people taken place of every 
other consideration. And that the impotent endeavors of a missionary 
(who has forfeited his honor pledged to me,) with part of one of the 
tribes, is a circumstance that, however trifling, increases their resent- 
ment. 

I should be much obliged by your promises of discountenancing any 
attempts against myself, etc., did they not appear to be made on condi- 
tions of compliance with Continental or Provincial Congresses, or even 
committees formed, or to be Ibrmed, many of whose resolves may neither 
consist with my conscience, duty, or loyalty. I trust I shall always 
manifest more humanity than to promote the destruction of the inno- 
cent inhabitants of a colony to which I have been always warmly at- 
tached, a declaration that must appear perfectly suitable to the character 
of a man of honor and principle, who can on no account neglect those 
duties that are consistent therewith, however they may differ fzom sen- 
timents now adopted in so many parts of America. 

" I sincerely wish a speedy termination to the present troubles, and 
I am, sir, your most humble servant, 

" G. JOHNSON, 

" I shall have occasion to meet the Indians of my department in 
different quarters this season." 

Johnson went from Ontario to Oswego, where he in- 
vited the Six Nations to another council, to " feast on a 
Bostonian and to drink his blood" — in other words, to eat 
a roasted ox and drink a pipe of wine. The council was 
held, and the Six Nations were further estranged from 
the republicans. Then Johnson, with a large number of 
the chiefs and warriors of the confederacy, who had been 
invited to an interview with Sk Guy Carle ton and Sir 



356 PHILIP SCHUYLER, [^T. 42. 

Frederick Haldimand at Montreal, crossed Lake Ontario 
and went down the St. Lawrence. 

Meanwhile the Continental Congress, perceiving, from 
the frequent letters of General Schuyler and others in 
New York, the great importance of keeping a vigilant eye 
upon the Six Nations and other Indians, and of preserving 
their neutrality if not securing their alliance, established a 
Board of Commissioners for Indian Afiiiirs, in three dis- 
tinct departments, known as the Northern, Middle, and 
Southern. They appointed as such commissioners for the 
Northern department General Philip Schuyler, Major Jo- 
seph Hawley, Turbot Francis, Oliver Wolcott, and Volck- 
ert P. Douw, They also adopted appropriate " talks" or 
addresses to the Indians, in which the nature of the 
quarrel between the colonists and the mother country was 
explained ; and. they were entreated to remain at home in 
peace :* 

"We desire," they said, "you •will hear and receive what "we have 
now told you, and that you will open a good ear, and listen to what we 
are now going to say. This is a family quarrel between us and old 
England. You Indians are not concerned in it. We do not wish you 
to take up the hatchet-against the King's troops. We desire you to re- 
main at home, and not join on either side, but keep the hatchet buried 
deep. In the name and behalf of all our people we ask and desire you 
to love peace and maintain it, and to love and sympathize with us in our 
troubles, that the path may be kept open with all our people and yours 
to pass and repass without molestation. * * * What is it we have asked 
of you ? Nothing but peace, notwithstanding our present disturbed 
situation ; and if application should be made to you by any of the King's 
unwise and wicked ministers to join on their side, we only advise 
you to deliberate with great caution, and in your wisdom look forward 
to the consequences of a compliance. For if the King's troops take 
away our property, and destroy us who are of tlie same blood with 
themselves, what can you, who are Indians, expect from them after- 
ward ? Therefore, we say, brothers, take care ! hold fast to your cove- 
nant chain." 

* Journals of Congress, July 12, 13, 1775. 



1775.] EMPLOYMENT OF INDIANS. 357 

This was an honest eifort to keep the savages from the 
field, and, had a like humane and discreet policy governed 
the councils of the British ministry and their agents, many 
a horrible deed, whose record stains the annals of that pe- 
riod, would never have been committed. But at that very 
time, when the Republicans were endeavoring to chain the 
bloodhounds, Johnson and his superiors in Canada were 
inciting them to engage in the contest, and cany on their 
hellish warfare side by side with the troops of enlightened 
England. British historians have asserted to the contrary ; 
and the character of the really humane Carleton has been 
defended by assertions that he discountenanced all alliance 
with the Indians at the beginning of the war. But almost 
thirty years afterward. Brant, the most noted of the allied 
chiefs, bore explicit testimony to the contraiy in the follow- 
ing extract from his speech, in which he recapitulated the 
services of the Mohawks during the contest : 

" I exhort you," Carleton said to us, " to continue your adherence to 
the King, and not to break the solemn agreement made by your fore- 
fathers ; for your own welfare is intimately connected with your con- 
tinuing the allies of his Majesty. He also said a great deal more to the 
same purport. * * * ^ council was next convened at Montreal in July, 
1775, at which the Seven Nations (or Caughnawagas) were present, as 
well as ourselves, the Six Nations. On this occasion General Haldi- 
mand told us what had befallen the King's subjects, and said, ' Now is 
the time for you to help the King. The war has commenced. Assist 
the King now, and you will find it to your advantage. Go, now, and 
fight for your possessions, and whatever you lose of your property dur- 
ing the war, the King will make up to you when peace returns.' This 
is the substance of what General Haldimand said. The Caughnawaga 
Indians then joined themselves to us. We immediately commenced in 
good earnest, and did our utmost during the war."* 

* Stone's lAfe of Brant, i. 89. "The speech of Brant, from which the 
preceding extract is taken," says Mr. Stone, "was written in the Mohawk 
language, and never by him rendered into English." Mr. Stoue procured its 
translation for his work. 



358 PniLTP SCHUYLER. [iEr, 42. 

General Schuyler reached Ticonderoga early on the 
morning of the 18tli of July, and entered immediately 
into an examination of the condition of the fort and gar- 
rison. He found every thing in a wretched state. The 
army was comparatively but a handful, and the supplies 
were very meager. The troops under Colonel Hinman 
numbered only about twelve hundred. They consisted 
chiefly of Connecticut people, some New York volunteers, 
and a few Green Mountain Boys. Most of them were un- 
disciplined, and those from Connecticut were extremely in- 
subordinate. Unaccustomed to actual military service ; 
having volunteered to perform the duty required of them ; 
feeling a perfect equality with the officers set over them ; 
and demoralized by the quarrels of their official superiors, 
of which they had been daily witnesses, they were in an 
unfit mood for yielding to the requirements of necessary 
discipline, especially such as General Schuyler felt it his 
duty to impose. He found Colonel Hinman only a nomi- 
nal commander of the garrison, for very few of his men 
were disposed to obey him. This was a state of things 
which Schuyler could not endure for a moment. He was 
a thorough disciplinarian, naturally authoritative, and pre- 
cise and systematic in all his arrangements. He was there- 
fore much annoyed by all that he saw and heard after 
reaching the head of Lake George, and on the evening of 
the day of his arrival he wrote as follows to General Wash- 
ington, at Cambridge : 

" You will expect that I should say something about this place and 
the troops here. Not one earthly thing for offense or defense has been 
done. The commanding officer had no orders ; he only came to rein- 
force the garrison, and he expected the general. (But this, my dear 
o-eneral, as well as what follows in this paragraph, I pray may be entie 
nous, for reasons which I need not suggest.) About ton last night I 
arrived at the landing-place, the north end of Lake George, a post oc- 



1775.] CRUDE ARMIES. 359 

cupied by a cnptain nnd one hunrlred men. A sentinel, on beinc: in- 
formed that I was in tlie boat, quitted his post to go and awake the 
guard, consisting of three men, in which he had no success. I wallvod 
up and came to another, a sergeant's guard. Here the sentinel chal- 
lenged, but suffered me to come up to him ; the whole guard, like the 
first, in soundest sleep. With a pen-knife only I could have cut off both 
guards, and then have set fire to the blockhouse, destroyed the stores, 
and starved the people here. At this post I had pointedly recommcndcid 
vigilance and care, as all stores for Fort George must necessarily be 
landed there. But I hope to get the better of tliis inattention. Tlie 
officers and men are all good looking people, and decent in their de- 
portment, and I really believe will make good soldiers, as soon as I can 
get the better of this nonchalance of theirs. Bravery, I believe, they 
are far from wanting."* 

This letter brought a sympathetic response from Wash- 
ington, written on the 28th of the month. The Com- 
mander-in-Chief had arrived at Cambridge on the 2d of 
July, where he was greeted by the shouts of a great mul- 
titude of soldiers and citizens, the clangor of bells, the 
strains of martial music, and the waving of banners, and 
escorted to the house in which he made his headquarters. 
On the following day, seated upon his large white horse of 
Arabian blood, he reviewed the troops and took formal 
command of tlie army. Like Schuyler, his first care was 
to make himself acquainted with the condition of the post 
and the character and position of the enemy's works. The 
inquiry revealed much to discourage a less trusting spirit 
than his. He found a disposition to insubordination the 
rule, and good discipline and cheerful obedience tlie excep- 
tion ; and with the hope of inspiring the troops with a due 
sense of the importance of the service and the necessity for 
perfect obedience, harmony, and good will, he issued a gen- 
eral order which may be regarded as a model of its class, 
in which, in a few words, he evoked harmony, order, the 

* MS. Letter Books, July 18, 1775. 



360 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [^t. 42. 

exercise of patriotism, morality, sobriety, and an humble 
reverence for and reliance upon Divine Providence. 

Every day some new difficulty, some weakness unob- 
served before, some exhibition of an impatient if not an 
actually mutinous spirit in the troops caused Washington 
to feel that a fearful weight of responsibility was resting 
upon his shoulders ; and with a full appreciation of the 
situation of Schuyler, he wrote to him in reply to that of- 
ficer's letter respecting affairs at Ticonderoga, saying : 

"I can easily judi^e of your difficulties in introducing order and dis- 
cipline into troops who have from their infancy imbibed ideas of the most 
contiaiy kind. It would be far beyond the compass of a letter for me 
to describe the situation of things here^jn my arrival. Perhaps you will 
only be able to judge of it from my assuring you that mine must be a 
portraiture at full length. of which you have had in miniature. Confu- 
sion and discord reigned in every department, which, in a little time, 
must have ended either in the separation of the army or fatal contests 
with one another. * * * However, we mend every day, and I flatter 
myself that in a little time we shall work up these raw materials into a 
good manufacture. I must recommend to you what I endeavor to prac- 
tice myself — patience and perseverance." 

To this Schuyler replied, after thanking him for his 
" very kind and polite letter :'' 

" I foresaw, my dear sir, that you would have an herculean labor in 
order to introduce that proper spirit of discipline and subordination 
which is the very soul of an »rmy, and I felt for you with the utmost 
sensibility, as I well knew the variety of difficulties you would have to 
encounter. * * * I can easily conceive that my difficulties are only a 
faint semblance of yours. Yes, my General, I will strive to copy your 
bright example, and patiently and steadily persevere in that hne which 
alone can promise the wished for reformation."* 

General Schuyler set about reforms with a will and en- 
ergy that soon produced material changes. Yet there was 
60 much tardiness in the service, in all directions, that he 

* MS. Letter Books, Anjust 6, I77S 



1775.] THE CANADIANS. 361 

could accomplish but little in preparations either for an 
invasion of Canada or a successful defense should a respect- 
able force make its way up the lake from that province. It 
was very difficult to procure reliable intelligence from Mon- 
treal and Quebec. Every account concurred in represent- 
ing the Canadians as being generally favorable to the 
republicans, while the elders of the Caughnawagas were 
hesitating whether to lift the hatchet for the King, as the 
young men desired to, or remain at home in peace. The 
moment seemed favorable for marching to the borders of, 
and perhaps into that province ; and circumstances were 
occurring which made it probable that the golden moment 
was passing when an almost bloodless conquest might be 
won. Robert Benson, Chairman of the New York Com- 
mittee of Safety, in a postscript to a letter, had said : 
"General- Burgoyne has not been seen at Boston since the 
17th ult. (June), and it is currently reported and believed 
that he is gone to Quebec ;"* while a gentleman just ar- 
rived from Montreal stated that Governor Carleton was 
very sanguine that, through the influence of the Roman 
Catholic clergy, the Canadians might be kept neutral, if 
not be made friendly to the government, and that troops 
from England or Boston were expected at Quebec. Other 
accounts contradicted this. 

These items of intelligence made Schuyler impatient, 
and he wrote to every person and public body from whom 
he had a right to expect aid, urging them to put forth all 
their energies in providing him with men, money, stores, 
and munitions of war. He was informed that the British 
were strengthening St. John's, at the foot of the lake, and 
were making preparations to construct vessels for a fleet. 

* Auto;irapli letter* 

16 



362 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [.^t. 42. 

"But, unfortunately," he -wrote to the Continental Congress, "not 
one earthly thing has been done here to enable me to move hence. I 
have neither boats sufficient, nor any materials prepared for building 
them. The stores I ordered from New York are not yet arrived. I 
have, therefore, not a nail, no pitch, no oakum, and want a variety of 
articles indispensably necessary, which I estimated and delivered into 
the New York Congi-ess on the 3d instant. An almost equal scarcity 
of ammunition exists, no powder having yet come to hand. Not a gun 
carriage for the few proper guns we have, and as yet very little provis- 
ion. There are now two hundred troops less than by my last return. 
These are badly, very badly armed, indeed ; and only one poor armorer 
to repair their guns."* 

The tardiness with which tlie troops for the service as- 
sembled gave Schuyler more uneasiness than any thing 
else. Those of Connecticut, under General Wooster, at 
New York and on Long Island, were very slow in their 
movements ; and the preparations of the New York levies 
for the field seemed to have almost ceased after he left for 
the north. On this subject he wrote very urgent letters to 
the Provincial Congress. That body, utterly powerless, 
sent his letters to the New York delegates in the Conti- 
nental Congress, with an earnest appeal. 

" We have no arms, "we have no powder, we have no blankets," 
they said. " For God's sake, send us money, seud us arms, send us 
ammunition. Burgoyne, we learn, has gone to Quebec. If Ticou- 
deroga is taken from us, fear, which made the savages our friends, will 
render them our enemies. Ravages on our frontiers will foster dissen- 
tions among us ruinous to our cause. Be prudent, be expeditious." 

To General Schuyler they wrote at the same time in an 
equally despairing tone, saying : 

" We have already ordered to Albany tents for one regiment. Our 
troops can be of no service to you. They have no arms, clotlics, blankets, 
or ammunition ; the officers no commissions ; our trensury no money ; our- 
selves in debt. It is in vain to complain. We will remove difficulties 
as fast as we can, and send you soldiers whenever the men we have 

* MS. Letter Books, July 21, 1775. 



1775.] GREEN MOUNTAIN BOYS. 363 

raised are entitled to that name. * * * Use, we pray you, the bad troops 
at Ticonderoga as 'vvcll as you can."* 

Yet Schuyler was not discouraged. " I hope," he wrote 
to Governor Trumbull, " in a little while to make all ob- 
stacles vanish. Much may be done when people set down 
to business with hand and heart." A few days afterward 
he was cheered by the announcement that his wishes had 
been complied with, in the appointment of necessary offi- 
cers for his department. Walter Livingston (alreeidy em- 
ployed by Schuyler) was appointed deputy commissary- 
general of stores and provisions, Donald Campbell was 
made deputy quarter-master general, and Gunning Bedford 
deputy muster-master general.f 

Feuds had caused delay in the organization of the 
regiment of Green Mountain Boys. Schuyler had no con- 
fidence in their professions of strength in numbers and 
zeal in patriotism. Under their title he had known, for 
several years, a set of rioters and lawless men, who had 
defied the authorities of his province, and he was not at all 
pleased with the idea of having those train-bands as a part 
of his army. He was, therefore, extremel}'' cautious, and 
took pains to know whom he was to call to the field before 
he issued his proclamation of the resolves of the two con- 
gresses. He accordingly wrote to Stephen Fay, a leading 
man of Bennington, saying : 

" Who the people are that are designated by the appellation of Green 
Mountain Boys, I am at a loss particularly to determine. Perhaps such 
of the inhabitants of this colony as reside on what are commonly called 
the New Hampshire Grrants are intended. In this doubt I find myself 
under the necessity of applying to you for information, which I entreat, 
and make no doubt but you will give me with all that candor which, as 
a friend to your country, is your indispensable duty to do."J 

* Journals of the New York Committeo of Safety, July 15, 1775. 
f Journals of Congress, July 17, 1775. 
X MS. Letter Books, July 10, 1775. 



364 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [JEt. 42 

He then urged Mr. Fay to take such necessary steps 
" as that the Green Mountain Boys, whoever they may he," 
might immediately proceed to the election of their officers, 
and fill the regiment without delay. Mr. Fay assured him 
that the inhabitants of the Grants were the Green Moun- 
tain Boys alluded to, and that they would " esteem it a 
favor to be incorporated into an indej^eudent battalion," 
subject to the required regulations. "As to the nomina- 
tion of the officers," he said, " I am advised to mention 
none to your honor except the field officers, which are uni- 
versally approved of, namely, Mr. Ethan Allen and Mr. 
Seth Warner."- 

Meanwhile, Allen and Warner had become impatient 
of the delay. In a letter to Governor Trumbull, the latter 
said : 

" Were it not that the grand Continental Congress had totally incor- 
porated the Green Mountain Boys into a battalion, under certain regu- 
lations and command, I would forthwith advance them into Canada and 
invest Montreal, exclusive of any help from the colonies ; though, under 
present circumstances, I would not, for my right arm, act without or 
contrary to order. If my fond zeal for reducing the King's fortresses, 
or destroying or imprisoning his troops in Canada, be the result of en- 
thusiasm, I hope and expect the wisdom of the continent will treat it 
as such ; and on the other hand, if it proceed from sound policy, that 
the plan will be adopted."! 

Allen and Warner visited Ticonderoga, and laid before 
General Schuyler the state of affairs in the Grants. They 
spoke of the feuds that delayed the organization of the 
regiment, and acknowledged, what Schuyler had suspected, 
that the number of Green Mountain Boys was so small 
that they w^ould be compelled to recruit in New England 
to make up the complement of five hundred men. Not 

* A.utograph letter, July 13, 1775- 

f American Archives, ii. 1,649, July 12, 1775. 



1775] A FEUD. 365 

doubting their own election to the highest posts, they urged 
him to empower them to appoint all the subordinate offi- 
cers. He referred them to the resolutions of both con- 
gresses, which left the choice of all the officers to the 
people ; and they departed, not well pleased with the re- 
sults of their visit, nor with each other. 

Soon after this Allen and Warner quarreled. Their 
respective friends became antagonistic partisans and the 
feud was intensified. Others felt disposed to drop them 
both, and give the field offices to less objectionable men. 
Mr. Fay's letter, in which he had recommended them, of- 
fended some of the leading persons in the Grants, and they 
wrote to Schuyler on the subject, urging him not to issue 
any commissions until the voice of the people, expressed 
in a convention about to be held, could be heard, when he 
should " be favored with an authentic answer to his letter." 
Schuyler paid very little attention to these communications. 
He had no love for the Green Mountain Boys as a body, 
and these feuds, standing in the way of the public service, 
disgusted him. He was Avilling to dispense with the services 
of Colonel Allen altogether, for, prejudiced perhaps by past 
occurrences, he regarded him as selfish in his ambition, na- 
turally insubordinate, and too indiscreet to be a safe leader. 

The more thoughtful men of the Grants, looking at the 
past, and contemplating the aspect of the future, also felt 
a doubt of the policy of placing Allen at the head of the 
regiment ; and when, at last, toward the close of July, the 
election was held, he was passed by. They omitted to 
choose a colonel, and Warner was nominated for lieutenant- 
colonel. 

Allen, who had not the least doubt of his election, was 
much mortified. " Notwithstanding my zeal and success 
in my country's cause," he wrote to Governor Trumbull, 



3GG PHILIP SCHUYLER. [.Ex. 42. 

" the old farmers in the New Hampshire Grants, who do 
not incline to go to war, have met in a committee meeting, 
and in their nomination of officers for the regiment of 
Green Mountain Boys have wholly omitted me." Many 
were pleased ; and General Montgomery, when he heard of 
it, wrote to Schuyler, saying : " It is a change which will 
be very acceptable to our convention." 

Allen, who was undoubtedly a true patriot, and did not 
really deserve the suspicions and dislike of Schuyler, did 
not suffer this severe disappointment to chill his zeal in the 
cause, and he immediately repaired to Ticonderoga and of- 
fered his services to the General as a volunteer. Even 
these were at first refused, for Schuyler doubted whether 
he could keep the restless republican within due bounds. 
He finally accepted his services, and employed him in 
pioneer duties on the frontier, in which he was energetic 
and faithful. 

Another volunteer for similar service appeared. Major 
John Brown, an American resident on the banks of the 
Sorel or Richelieu river, who was well acquainted with 
the character of the Canadians, the impressions to which 
they were most susceptible, and the topography and re- 
sources of their country, offered to use his influence in 
persuading the inhabitants to join the republican standard. 
He came well recommended, and General Schuyler at once 
commissioned him for the service, and furnished him with 
the following general letter to such persons as, in his judg- 
ment, would give information and efficient aid : 

" Ticonderoga, July 21, 1775. 
" Sir : — Reports prevail that General Carleton intends an excursion 
into these parts; that for that purpose he is raising a body of Canadians 
and Indians ; that he is preparing to build as well armed vessels as other 
craft to transport troops across the lake ; that he is strongly fortifying St. 
John's ; that Colonel Guy Johnson is to join him with a body of In- 



177.-..] MAJOR brown's MISSION. 3G7 

Iniliaus ; tliat vast, magazines of arms and ammunition are collected at 
Montreal ; that the Canadians are averse to take part in the unhappy- 
contest ; that they nevertheless wish we would enter Canada and attack 
the regular troops. On every one of these articles I wish the fullest in- 
formation, together with such other as you may be enabled to give me. 
The regular troops at Boston have been severely handled by the provin- 
cials; a list of the killed and wounded officers you will see in the 
newspapers which I send you. Many of the wounded are since dead. 

" General Washington commands an army before Boston of twenty- 
three tliousand men, which is continually increasing. 

" Pennsylvania has raised five thousand ; these, with three thousand 
from Jersey, are encamped in diiferent towns in the Jerseys, as near 
New York as they conveniently can. Brigadier G-eneral Eichard Mont- 
gomery, of New York, and Brigadier General Wooster, of Connecticut, 
who command under me, are on their way up to join me. The latter, 
with two thousand Connecticut people, join me to-day. The former, 
with three thousand New Yorkers, is following — the front reach Fort 
Elward to-day. Five hundred Green Mountain Boys are to join me in 
ten days, as also Colonel Ross, with six hundred riflemen from the back 
parts of Pennsylvania. When these all meet, my force will consist of 
near 8,000 men. 

" We have just received information that the accounts of the Lex- 
ington affair had got home. It threw the nation into the greatest fer- 
ment; the ministry were loaded with curses, the Guards at St. James' 
doubled, the city of London in the greatest confusion, and, to add to all 
this, they just then received the most alarming accounts of the intentions 
of the Spaniards. If the ministry would but suffer his Majesty to see 
the injury they are doing to the empire, oh I they would give us an op- 
portunity to figlit the royal foes of his royal house ; to spend our blood 
and treasure in supporting his dignity and resenting the insults the na- 
tion is threatened with by the haughty Spaniards, who are preparing to 
take the advantage of a divided empire. 

"PHILIP SCHUYLER. 

" Please to settle a mode of correspondence with the bearer. I do 
not direct this, lest the consequences should prove detrimental to you, 
should they fall into some hands."* 

In his instructions to Major Brown, the General said : 
" Try to get the Caughnawagas to come and speak to me 
here. I will give them presents, and renew that friendship 
which subsisted between them and my ancestors. Wild- 

•" Scliuyler's Order Book. 



368 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [JEt. 42. 

man knows me, and so does Mr. Williams' -•'■ sister. I gave 
her some things the "winter before last, having sent for her 
to my house at Saratoga." 

General Schuyler gave Major Brown a letter to Mr. 
Price, a merchant of Montreal, who was well-disposed 
toward the repubhcan cause ; and on Monday morning, the 
23d of July, he set out with Captain Cochrane and a ser- 
geant, and two Frenchm^i. 

"• I am determined," he wrote to Schuyler, on his departure, " to 
touch at Caughnawaga the first place after hauling our boat out of the 
lake iuto some thicket near the river La Colle. Shall endeavor to see 
John Station, an English Indian and good old friend, by whose assist- 
ance I hope to get access to my friends at Montreal, by which means I 
shall find it in my power to execute your orders in every particular. 
Hope to return as soon as may be ; but if^ through misfortune, I am de- 
tained and ill-treated, I pray you to advance with force sufiicient to effect 
Tfith power that which I ought to have done with policy. "t 

♦ The reputed father of Eleazer "Williams, the " Lost Prince," — the alleged 
Dauphin of France, son of Louis the Sixteenth. The " Prince" died at Ho- 
ganaburg. New York, in 1859. 

f Autograph letter, July 23, 1775, 



CHAPTER XXI. 

After the exercise of the greatest diligence and energy, 
G-eneral Schuyler found himself, at the beginning of Au- 
gust, as little prepared for olFensive or defensive operations 
as at the beginning of July. Every thing appeared to 
work unfavorably. The country had been parched during 
a drought, which rendered food for draught cattle so scarce 
that the transportation of timber for boats and of provi- 
sions for the garrison had been much delayed. 

" It gave me pain," he wrote to Governor Trumbull, '' to learn that 
not less than fifty milch cows were on their way here for the use of 
Colonel Hinman's regiment. Our working cattle are in a starving con- 
dition, the country being parched up by the excessive drought. Such 
an additional number of cattle would destroy the httle feed we have 
left, and be of very little use to the troops."* 

Because of the scarcity of provisions, Schuyler ordered 
General Montgomery, who had arrived at Albany on the 
17th of July, to encamp there all the troops that he might 
receive, until the commissariat at Ticonderoga should be in 
better condition. A few days later he wrote to General 
Washington, saying : " Provisions of the bread kind are 
scarce with me, and therefore I have not dared to order up 
a thousand men that are at Albany, lest we should starve 

here."t 

Schuyler endeavored to create some supplies near at 

* MS. Letter Book-?, July 21, 1775. f Ibid, July 31. 1775. 

10* 



370 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [^t. 42. 

hand. The property of Colonel Skene, which the repub- 
licans had seized, was put to profitable use. His schooner, 
as we have observed, had already done good service on the 
lake. Now his saw-mill was used in preparing lumber, 
and his small iron works were put in operation under 
the direction of Samuel Keep, who employed negi'oes to 
dig ore near Crown Point, and transport it in scows to 
Skenesborough. At the same time orders were given tnat 
nothing should be done detrimental to the private interests 
of Colonel Skene. All lawless use of his property had 
been restrained by General Schuyler ; and in a letter to 
Patrick Langan (who had the supervision of the Colonel's 
affairs), directing the saw-mill to be put in 0})eration, he 
expressed a hope that order might be restored, " as" he said, 
" the view of my constituents is, not to distress any person 
or injure private property." 

August was passing away, and Schuyler was still un- 
supplied with men and means. 

" Not a man from this colony has yet joined me," lie wrote to 
Washington, " except tliose I returned to you [July 15th], and who 
were raised and paid by the Committee of Albany ; nor have I yet re- 
ceived those necessary supplies which I begged the New York Provin- 
cial Congress to send me as long ago as the third of last month,, which 
the Continental Congress had desired them to do. The troops here are 
destitute of tents, and they are crowded into vile barracks, which, with 
the natural inattention of the soldiery to cleanliucss, has already been 
productive of disease, and numbers are daily rendered unfit for duty."* 

Jealousies arising out of the clashing authorities of the 
Continental Congress and the provincial legislatures were 
now beginning to bear their legitimate fruit, in the form of 
assumptions by inferiors which were detrimental to har- 
mony and efficiency in the military service. 

We have already observed the insubordination of the 
* MS. Letter Books, August 6, 1176. 



ITT 5.] JEALOUSIES. 371 

Connecticut troops, owing cliicfly to their idea of perfect 
equality with their officers, forg(?tting that in their agree- 
ment to follow a leader some of their rights as citizens were 
surrendered. The piivate soldier, who felt at liberty to obey 
or not to obey his captain, also claimed the right to be fed 
and sheltered by whomsoever he might choose to administer 
the comfort, and not by another. This feeling of individ- 
ual independence was shared by most of the Connecticut 
officers and men as a botly ; and when the Continental Con- 
gress placed them in service on Lake Champlain, under the 
general command of a New York officer, they felt shorn of 
their dignity as citizens of another province, seemingly for- 
getful that in the great struggle before them the united 
colonies composed their country, and not the single com- 
monwealth in which they happened to reside. This feeling 
had manifested itself in many ways, much to the annoy- 
ance of General Schuyler, whose views of patriotic sym- 
pathy, zeal, and service were broader than the domains of 
his own province. It at length found expression so offen- 
sive that he felt it his duty to rebuke it. 

When troops were raised in Connecticut, Elisha Phelps 
was appointed by the Assembly of that province a general 
commissary to supply them, and Jedediah Strong, a repre^ 
sentative in that assembly from Litchfield, was made a 
deputy commissary to supply the troops under Colonel 
Hinman. Strong was engaged in that service when those 
soldiers where placed under the command of General Schuy- 
ler, and Phelps made his residence at Albany, from which 
place he might more readily forward supplies to the army 
at Ticonderoga. Both he and Strong appear to have been 
energetic and faithful men, and had reason to expect pro- 
motion if any should be given. 

Unfortunately for the harmony and best interests of the 



372 PHILIP SCHUYLER, [^Et. 42. 

service, Walter Livingston, a nephew of General Schuyler, 
and quite a young man, was, on the recoramendation of his 
uncle, a])pointed by the Continental Congress, as we have 
seen, deputy commissary-general for the Northern depart- 
ment. He was every way competent to perform the duties 
of that office, and his numerous family connections gave 
him valuable advantages in the work of his department. 
But he superseded those already in the service, and aroused 
a feeling of jealousy on the part of the New England offi- 
cers and troops which was productive of evil to the com- 
mon cause. 

Mr. Strong, under the direction of Mr. Phelps, had vis- 
ited General Schuyler at Ticonderoga on business connected 
with the supply of the Connecticut troops, and was return- 
ing to Albany in company with Mr. Livingston, when they 
met, on Lake George, a gentleman from Philadelphia, 
bearing from the Congress the lattcr's commission as de- 
puty commissary-general. The question immediately arose 
as to the extent of his powers. Livingston properly con- 
tended that his commission gave him official superiority to 
both Phelps and Strong. They denied it. High words 
ensued. Phelps and Strong contended that Livingston was 
only a deputy to the former ; that it was his business to 
purchase provisions, etc., and deliver them to Phelps at 
Albany ; and that the Continental Congress did not intend 
to turn the latter out of office while he behaved himself. 

" I told bira," wrote Phelps to Schuyler, " that there need be no dif- 
ficulty between us ; that he would have business enough, so should I. 
However, it did not satisfy the young gentleman, who said if he could 
not have all the business he would not have any, and added that your 
Honor had procured him his commission ; that he was a nephew of 
yours, and that he would write to you and let you know that I would 
not resign. I think I can not answer it to the honorable Continental 
Congress, or the colony of Connecticut or the Massachusetts Bay [the 



1775.J WRANGLINQS ABOUT OFFICE. S73 

lat'er concurred with Connecticut in the appointment of Mr. Phcli)?,] 
if I did, for I think him not a faithful and good soldier who gives up his 
commission before he is superseded or regulai'ly dismissed."* 

The three contestants wrote to General Schuyler on the 
same day. Phelps' letter, in courteous words, suhmitted 
the simple facts in the case, and begged General Schuyler 
to " interpose and direct," that the business might be so 
managed by them as not " to interfere with or disoblige 
the common cause." Strong, less discreet, wrote an offen- 
sive letter. He spoke of his own ill-requited services ; the 
unfulfilled promises of supplies for the Connecticut troops 
made by the Provincial Congress of New York ; and of 
his recent purchases of provisions and live cattle for those 
troops. He inquired what should be done with his pur- 
chases ; referred to the appointment of Livingston by say- 
ing : " I find employed some people never recommended to 
that department by the colony [Connecticut], to purchase 
our cattle with our own money at an advanced price ;" 
reminded Schuyler of an alleged promise on his part to re- 
commend Strong to the commissary-general, whoms 
he might be ; and expressed a hope that Commissary 
Phelps might be retained in office,' because he had con- 
ducted the business with fidelity and dispatch. After 
some remarks complimentary of General Schuyler^ Strong 
said : 

" 'T is, therefore, from your well known acquaintance with human 
nature, your candor, justice, and generosity, that I entertain the highest 
expectations and strongest assurance that your influence will be success- 
fully used in removing every jealousy and every cause of it which might 
tend to alienate the affections of any colony or any part of the army 
towards so worthy a general and so noble an enterprise. Grod forbid that 
any overgrown colony or overhearing man should at this critical juncture 
use such pernicious partiality as to attempt to monopolize every emolument 

* Autograph letter, .Tuly 28, 1775. 



374 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [^t. 42. 

ami excluile every instrument of public service, for no other accusation 
or complaint than that he belongs to the most patriotic, free, and gener- 
ous colony on earth."* 

General Schuyler took fire at tlie perusal of Strong's 
letter, and wrote an indignant reply. That letter had im- 
impeached his honor, and, by implication, arraigned his in- 
tegrity. After reminding Strong that it was the duty of all 
to acquiesce in the determinations of the Continental Con- 
gress, and " to obey their orders without entering into the 
reasons upon which they were founded ;" that Mr. Living- 
ston, by virtue of his commission, had the control of all 
other commissaries in the department, because he was re- 
sponsible for their conduct ; that none but incompetent or 
useless men would be discharged, and that Captain Phelps 
would be retained, he informed him that Mr. Livingston 
would receive the provisions and cattle whenever they 
should be delivered to him. He then said : 

" I should have closed my letter here, but that I think myself under 
a necessity to put you right in some matters. You say ' When I find 
employed some people never recommended to that department by the 
colony, to purchase our cattle with our own raone}^' Remember, sir, 
tliat the appointment was not made by me; thut it was made by the 
Continental Congress, in which the colony of Connecticut is represented. 
That neither the cattle nor any other stores are to be boug'.it at the ex- 
pimse of the colony of Connecticut ; they are to be purchased at the 
joint expense of the associated colonies, agreeable to the quota fixed or 
to be fixed by the Continental Congress ; and I believe it will be no 
great hardship, in that case, for the people of Connecticut to have their 
cattle purchased by whomsoever it may be done, or with any current 
money wliatever. 

" I really do not know what you mean by ' monopolizing every 
emolument.' I do not know who has done it. I have not. If tlio 
Continental Congress has dono it, I am not the person you should com- 
plain to. I am tlieir servant, and not their superior. A copy of your 
letter I shall transmit to that respectable body. 

"I readily, sir, agree with the encomium you have bestowed on the 

* Autograph letter, July 28, 1775, 



1775. 1 REPROOF, 375 

colony of Connecticut, having ever entertained the highest opinion of 
their virtue and patriotism, in which I am not smgular. 

" What you intend by using the epithet ' overgrown' is best known 
to yourself; my construction of it is not very flivorable to you. 

" I shall always consider it an indispensable part of my duty to try 
to remove every cause of jealousy in the army which I have the honor 
to command, and I sincerely wish none may prevail between any colo- 
nies, overgrown or not. I am not conscious that I have given the least 
cause for any. If I have, I wish you would complain of me to the 
Congress. If not, you might have spared the observation."* 

To Mr, Phelps the General wrote : 

" Mr. Livingston's appointment is made by the Continental Congress, 
who are my constituents, and whose orders I am implicitly to obey, and 
so, indeed, is every person that has any concern with the army, in what- 
ever station he may be. You seem to be little acquainted with military 
distinctions, not to know that a deputy commissary -r7e?2erars commission 
supersedes a mere commissan/s. Such an appointment is absolutely 
necessary, that every general who commands an army may have only 
one person to apply to to furnish him with what may be wanted, and 
that person must then be accountable."t 

General Schuyler also wrote to the Continental Con- 
gress on the same day, and inclosed copies of the letters of 
Phelps and Strong. He acquainted that body of the re- 
fusal of Strong to yield to Livingston, and added : " I 
should not have troubled you with these letters, but that 
you may from them see the necessity of some general reso- 
lution of the Congress to cure all this jarring." 

Before this letter reached Philadelphia, the Continental 
Congress had adjourned until the fifth of September, after 
having appropriated " a sum not exceeding one hundred and 
seventy-five thousand dollars to be applied toward the dis- 
charge of monies advanced and the debts contracted for 
the public service," by the convention of New York and 
the Albany Committee ; and a further sum of one hundred 

* MS. Letter Books, July 31, 1775. + Ibid. . 



376 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [^t. 42. 

thousand dollars for the use of the northern army, " in such 
manner as General Schuyler, by his warrant, shall limit and 
appoint."* 

The correspondence between Schuyler and the Connec- 
ticut commissaries produced much ill-feeling at the time, 
and was one of the causes of discord and contention, dis- 
trust and heart-burning, which prevailed in the Northern 
army during the remainder of the campaign. The sectional 
feeling of both the New York and Connecticut troops was 
strong, and General Schuyler was not the person to allay it 
by concessions. He was eminently just and generous as a 
man ; as a soldier he was inflexible in his demands for 
obedience and the respect due to his rank and position. 
He was naturally quick-tempered, but placable ; impatient 
of disobedience ; punctilious in his requirements of atten- 
tion to every form of etiquette pertaining to the service ; 
never deigning to argue with an inferior, and seldom ex- 
plaining his motives for a command. In his manner he 
was dignified, but not haughty ; as a disciplinarian he was 
exacting and uncompromising. He made labor a rule — an 
absolute necessity — for each soldier rejwrted fit for duty. 
Work, work, work, whenever needed and in whatever form, 
was required of the troops ; and the idleness that prevailed 
in the camp previous to his arrival entirely disappeared. 
The exigencies of the service required such industry, and 
the health of the soldiers demanded it. Laborers outside of 
the army were few, and money for wages was scarce. He 
therefore converted the garrison into a hive of industry, and 
had every soldier thoroughly drilled for the service before 
him. This discipline, and labor, and authoritative exac- 
tions, so essential to the success of the expedition, were 
novelties in the experience of the troops. They were en- 

* Journals of Congress, August 1, 1775. 



1T75.1 AFFAIRS IN CANADA. 377 

dured as a scourge by those who imagined that a soldier 
had little else to do while in camp but to keep his weapons 
clean and practice the military art ; and Schuyler was re- 
garded by many as an imperious taskmaster. But those 
who knew him intimately, shared his confidence, and ap- 
preciated the value of his discipline to the service, loved 
and honored him as a wise, kind-hearted, noble, and gen- 
erous man. 

While Major Brown was absent on his mission, Schuy- 
ler received intelligence from Canada that made him more 
impatient than ever to move down the lake and take pos- 
session of St. John's. He was informed that a force of 
four or five hundred Canadians were assembled at that 
place, and were suj)plied with provisions from Montreal 
and Quebec ; that two fortifications were in process of 
erection there, and that one was nearly comj)leted, mount- 
ing eight field-pieces and some small mortars ; that thirty 
or forty heavy guns, with carriages, had been brought up 
to Chamblee, twelve miles distant ; that the enemy were 
building large vessels at St. John's, to carry sixteen to 
eighteen guns each ; that four regiments of regulars were 
expected at Quebec ; that Colonel John Johnson, and his 
brother-in-law, Colonel Daniel Claus, were in the neigh- 
borhood of Montreal, with about five hundred Tories and 
Indians ; and that the clergy and seigniors of Canada were 
endeavoring to stimulate the inhabitants to take up arms 
against the republicans. He was also informed that the 
Canadians were generally disposed to be neutral ; that in 
a recent attempt, by officers sent for the purpose, to com- 
pel them to take up arms, in which several who refused 
were killed, they had assembled to the number of three 
thousand, disarmed some of the officers, and obliged others 
to desist ; and that the inhabitants were so well disposed 



378 PHILir SCHUYLER. [^Et. 42. 

toward the repiil)licans, that if an anny sufficient to pro- 
tect them should be immediately marched into the province, 
tUey would certainly not take up arms for the King, and 
would probably be active in the liberal cause."* 

But Schuyler's efforts toward adequate preparations for 
advancing upon St. John's were, as yet, almost unavailing. 
He had constructed some boats, was building others, and 
had i)rocured officers to command them ; but men, and 
supplies of every kind, were wanting. He appealed to the 
Continental Congress for powder, for money, and for hos- 
pital stores. ^ 

" I shall not have quite a ton of powder when the troops are com- 
pleted to a pound a man," he wrote. " Out of about live hundred men 
Avho are here, near one hundred are sick, and I have not any kind of 
hospital stores. The Uttle wine I had for my own table I have deliv- 
ered to the regimental surgeon. That being expended, I can no longer 
bear the distress of the sick, and, impelled by the feelings of humanity, 
I shall take the liberty immediately to order a physician from Albany 
(if one can be got there, as I believe there may,) to join us with such 
stores as are indispensably necessary."t 

The Continental Congress had adjourned and gone 
home, and Schuyler's letters remained unanswered by them 
for a month. Dr. Franklin, the jjresident of the Philadelphia 
Committee of Safety, opened them and sent them to Pres- 
ident Hancock, but that officer had no delegated power to 
give orders in the premises, and Schuyler was left to " act," 
as he said, upon his " own ideas of things in a critical situ- 
ation." He appealed to the Provincial Congress of New 
York, but almost in vain. At that moment they could do 
absolutely nothing. Their inability was called indifference 
by some, and disatfection by others. 

* MS. Depositious of John DuguiJ and John Shatforth, taken before 
General Sclmyler, at Ticondcroga, August 2, 1775. 
f MS. Letter Books, August 6, 1775. 



1775.] EMBARRASSMENTS. 379 

" By all the appearances of the conduct of the province of New 
York," wrote Samuel Mott from Ticonderoga to Governor Trumbull, 
" they still are unsound at heart. They make a great noise, and send 
forward a few officers to command, etc., and all the carpenters and ar- 
tificers who are to have extra pay ; but I believe as to soldiers in the 
service, they are not more than one hundred and fifty strong at all the 
posts this side of Albany ; and it is feared by many discerning men 
that even their Provincial Congress have scarcely a majority who are 
sound fi-iends to the cause. * * * The General drives things on as fast 
as he can, considering what hinderance he has for want of nails, etc., 
and I believe him to be a very resolute, good officer."* "The New 
Yorkers," wrote Major Brown to the same gentleman, " have acted a 
droll part, and are determined to defeat us if in their power. They 
have failed in men and supplies." 

The omission of New York to raise men at that time, 
ought not to have been a cause for unqualified censure, for 
it had been mutually stipulated that Connecticut should 
furnish troops, and New York supplies. But the latter 
was a difficult task. 

" You can't conceive," wrote Livingston, president of the New York 
Congress, to General Schuyler, in a private postcript to a public letter 
announcing the forwarding of supplies by Peter Curtenius, the con- 
tractor ; "you can't conceive the trouble we have with our troops 
for the want of money. To this hour we have not received a shilling 
of the public money. Two of our members have been at Philadelphia 
almost a fortnight waiting for the cash. Our men insist on being paid 
before they march, not their subsistence only, but also their billeting 
money. Perhaps no men have been more embarrassed than we."t 

" The corporation arms," wrote Alexander McDougall, the ardent 
Son of Liberty, who had been appointed colonel of the first regiment 
of New York troops, "were so scattered in the hands of the peo|)le, 
that it was with infinite trouble we were able, out of 530, to collect 470, 
notwithstanding a severe resolution of Congress issued to call them in,* 
and when they wei'e sent to the gunsmith's, for want of money to dis- 
charge their bills they gave the preference to other work."J 

Major Brown returned to Ticonderoga on the 15th of 

* August 4, 1775, American Archives, iii. 22. 
■j- Autograph letter, August 21, 1775. 
X Autograph letter, August 9, 1775. 



380 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [^T. 42. 

August, and reported that there were seven hundred regu- 
lar troops in Canada, three hundred of whom were at St.. 
John's ; others formed a small garrison at Quebec ; and 
the remainder were at Montreal, Chamblee, and posts at 
th^ Cedars and Oswegatchie (now Ogdensburgh), further 
up the St. Lawrence. He had learned that Sir John John- 
son was at Montreal, with a band of almost three hundred 
Tories and some Indians, trying to persuade the Caughna- 
wagas to take up the hatchet for the King. He confirmed 
the previous report of fortifications, vessels, and cannon at 
St. John's, and gave it as his opinion that the Canadians 
(who believed that the old French laws, which would im- 
pose heavy taxes upon them, were about to be revived) 
were anxious to sec a strong army enter their province and 
relieve them from British rule, but were unwilling to take 
up arms. He was assured that the Indians would go with 
the Canadians ; and he closed his report by an expression 
of his belief that the conquest of Canada, if undertaken at 
at once, might be easily achieved. 

Major Brown did not accomplish all that Schuyler had 
expected, but his information was sufficiently reliable and 
complete to induce the General to push forward to St. 
John's even with his small force, inadequately supplied, as 
soon as he should receive positive orders from Washington 
to do so. " I am prepared," he wrote to the commander- 
in-chief, " to move against the enemy, unless your Excel- 
lency and Congress should direct otherwise."* 

Troops and supplies were then going forward. The 
Provincial Congress of New York were using every effort to 
furnish the quota of one thousand men required of them 
by the Continental Congress. They had organized four 
regiments of infimtry, under the respective commands of 

* MS. Letter Books, August 6, 1775. 



1775.] TROOPS MOVING NORTH WABD. 381 

Colonels McDougall, Van Schaick, Clinton, and Holmes ; 
and some of them were on the point of departure for the 
North at this time. Captain John Lamb, who had re- 
ceived valuable instructions on engineering and gunnery 
from Christopher Colles, had been, at his own request, 
commissioned to raise an artillery company of one hundred 
men. These were attached to Colonel McDougairs regi- 
ment, but on a footing superior to that of the infantry, and 
were ordered to join General Schuyler as speedily as possi- 
ble. General Wooster, who had been ordered to Ticon- 
deroga with one thousand troops, had despatched " the 
whole of Colonel Waterbury's regiment, except the sick," 
and " Captain Douglas' company."* Waterbury arrived 
at Albany at about the time when Schuyler wrote to 
Montgomery to detain the troops there on account of 
scarcity of provision at Ticonderoga ; and at his own re- 
quest, he had advanced as far as Half-Moon Point (now 
Waterford), to avoid " the small-pox and debauchery" in 
Albany. His men were employed in repairing the roads 
between his camp and Forts Edward and George. These 
now marched toward Ticonderoga. 

The New Hampshire Committee of Safety offered to 
send to Schuyler three companies of sixty men each, " ran- 
gers, hunters, and men accustomed to the woods," under 
Colonel Bedell, whom they recommended as " a person of 
great experience in war, and well acquainted in Canada."'!' 
These had been raised as a guard on the western frontiers 
of Connecticut. Their services were not needed there, and 
they had been offered to General Washington. His army 
was sufficiently strong, and he recommended them to the 
army of the North. They were accepted gladly, for the 

* Wooster to Schuyler, autograph letter, July 29, 17 75. 

f Maltliew Thornton to Schuyler, autograph letter. August 7, 1776. 



382 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [.^Et. 42. 

tardiness of tho Green Mountain Boys in forming their regi- 
ment, gave indication that they n)ight not fulfill the bright 
promises made by Allen and Warner at the beginning. 

Governor Trumbull sent Schuyler cheering words of 
encouragement ; and Silas Deane, one of the most active 
of the Connecticut delegates in Congi-ess, and who had 
been among the earliest promoters of the scheme for cap- 
turing the lake fortresses and invading Canada, advised 
him to rely upon the Connecticut people for provisions, for, 
he said, " I fear you will find New York but a broken reed, 
and if you should depend too far I fear the consequences. 
Cattle, and sheep, as well as pork, can best be procured in 
this colony."-'' 

Dr. Franklin, who had been touched by Schuyler's ap- 
peals to the Continental Congress in the letters he had 
opened, wrote to him, as president of the Philadelphia 
Committee of Safety, saying : 

" I did myself the honor of -writing to you by the return of your 
express on the 8th instant. Immediately after dispatching him, it oc- 
curred to me to endeavor the obtaining from our Committee of Safety 
a permission to send you what powder remained in our hands, which, 
thouo-ii it was thought scarcely safe for ourselves to part with it, they, 
upon my application, and representing the importance of the service 
you are engaged in, and the necessity you are under for that article, 
cheerfully agreed to. Accordingly, I this day dispatch a wagon with 
twenty-four hundred pounds weight, -which actually empties our maga- 
zine. I wish it safe to your hands, and to yourself every kind of pros- 
perity.! 

The cautious Chase, deputy from Maryland, who had 
not favored the invasion of Canada, wrote from Annapolis 
on the same day, saying : 

"I am sensible of the many difficulties you have to encounter, and 
of the anxiety of mind naturally attendant on your very important, and 

* Autograph letter, August 15, 1775. 
f Autograph letter, August 10, 1775. 



1775.] ADJUTANT-GENERAL. 383 

I nm nn-.iifl, very dnngerons commnml. I sinporely wish you may be 
enabled to render any effectual service to America. Powder yon will 
receive ; provisions, I hope, will be better supplied, and a sufficient body 
of troops furnished to render the event favorable to your most sanguine 
expectaiions. 

" I can not but interest myself in your success. The expediency, 
the prudence of the expedition is left to your judgment. A provident 
condition, a sine qua non of marching into Quebec, is the friendship of 
the Canadians ; without their consent and approbation it is not to be 
undertaken. So I understand the resolution of the Congress. The gen- 
erality, the bulk of mankind judge only from the success. I think you, 
therefore, in a very critical situation, and that an exertion of all your 
faculties of miml and body are necessary. May I be permitted to wish 
that a military ardor, a soldier's lionor, or a compliance with the temper 
and inclinations of others, may not prevail over your better judgment. 
There may be some, from want of discretion, and others from envy, who 
may be urging you to undertake what your prudence may condemn. I 
hope I have not said too much, and that my anxiety will be imputed 
to no other cause than my Zv-al for America and my regard for you. 
God grant you success."* 

Toward the middle of August, Jonathan Trumhull, son 
of the Connecticut governor, was appointed paymaster- 
general for the Northern Department, and at about the 
same time Judge William Duer, residing at Fort Miller, 
in Chaiiotte county, received from the New York Provin- 
cial Congress the commission of deputy adjutant-general 
of the New York forces. Sometime before, Schuyler had 
contemplated nominating Colonel Arnold for that oflice. 
Natwithstanding Arnold's infirmities of temper and haugh- 
tiness of spirit, Schuyler admired his daring courage, his 
energetic industry, and his skill and judgment as a military 
commander ; and no one doubted his patriotism. Before 
Arnold left Crown Point for Cambridge in partial disgrace, 
.Schuyler wrote to Silas Deane on the subject, and u])on 
that hint, which was communicated to Arnold, the indig- 
nant Colonel asserted, in support of his character, that the 
* Autograph letter, August 10, 1775. 



384 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [^t. 42. 

office of adjutant-general of the Nortliera department had 
been offered to him. This report produced some uneasiness 
in the public mind. 

" I am informed," wrote Mr. Duer, " that Colonel Arnold reports that 
you have offered him the commission of adjutant-genei'al to the New 
York forces. If this is the case (thouf,di I must confess that I think it is 
not), his late conduct at Ticonderoga must have been grossly misrepre- 
sented to you ; for I am very sensible you would not think of showing 
any mark of favor to any one whose unaccountable pride should lead 
him to sacrifice the true interests of the country. From this motive, 
and from the consideration of my being engaged in his controversy with 
the Boston Committee, I am led to request that you will make an in- 
quiry into the matter ; and I am sensible that if you ever had such au 
intention as he reports, the result of a mature investigation into his con- 
duct will induce you to abandon it. If you never had such a design, I 
shall be glad to have permission to contradict it, because a pubhc belief 
of your intentions in his favor is a tacit reproach of my conduct, who 
exerted myself to the utmost in defeating his designs."* 

Schuyler saw the impropriety of his nomination at that 
time, although he had not lost his confidence in the real 
value of the services of Arnold. He afterward offered to 
nominate Judge Duer to the same office, who hesitated in 
agi-eeing to accept it, because his business connections Avith 
his brothers in the island of Dominica might cause them to 
lose their fortunes on account of his political conduct. He 
received the appointment, however, but when his commis- 
sion arrived he went immediately to New York to submit 
his case to a confidential committee of the Congress. " Be 
assured," he wrote to Schuyler, " that nothing less than the 
critical situation in wliich I am could prevent me from join- 
ing you at this time."-}* He felt compelled to refuse the ap- 
pointment, and Schuyler undertook the invasion of Canada 
without an adjutant-general. 

Mr. Deane, meanwhile, had conferred with Arnold at 

* Autograph letter, July 19, 1775. 
f Autograph letter, August 10, 177 5. 



1775] A PLEA FOR ARNOLD. 385 

Cambridge, who yet had hopes, it appears, of receiving 
that appointment, or some other of equal importance, under 
Schuyler, 

" Colonel Arnold has been hardly treated, in my opinion, by this 
colony, through some mistake or other," Deane wrote to Schuyler. 
" You once wrote to me in his favor for the office of adjutant-general in 
your department. If the post is not filled I wish you to remember him, 
as I think he has deserved much and received little, or less than nothing, 
and it would be a very unhappy state of things if every gentleman con- 
cerned in the first adventure that vs^ay should be neglected. If you 
design for Montreal, Colonel Arnold will, I trust, have the command of 
a body of men capable of making a powerful diversion in your favor ; 
but, at any rate, he ought to be made use of, not to provide for him 
merely, but to make use of those abilities and activity of Yrhich I am 
sure he is possessed."* 

* Autograph letter, August 10, 1775. 
17 



CHAPTER XXII. 

While waiting for orders from General Washington 
to proceed to St. John's, General Schuyler went to Albany 
to confer with the Committee of Safety there, and with 
the Indian Commissioners. He had written urgent letters 
to both concerning the importance of an immediate con- 
ference with the heads of the Six Nations ; and also with 
the Caughnawagas, if they could be induced to attend. 
There had been delay in the action of the Committee and 
the commissioners, in consequence of the absence of Douw 
and Francis, two of the most active members of the board. 
Of this tardiness Schuyler had complained to the Com- 
mittee, wlio, in reply, assured him that it had not been 
for want of zeal on their part, and that they should heart- 
ily cooperate with the commissioners, 

Schuyler left Brigadier-General Montgomery in chief 
command at Ticonderoga during his absence, and departed 
for Albany on the 17th of August, with the intention of 
returning in the course of a few days. On his arrival at 
Saratoga, he was informed that quite a large body of 
Indians, of the Six Nations, were to be in Albany the 
following week, and that his presence at the conference to 
be held with them, by the commissioners, Avould be indis- 
pensable. As preliminary to this conference, Douw and 
Francis had held a council with some of the chiefs at the 
German Flats, on the 15th and 16th of the month, and 



17T5.] CONFERENCE WITH INDIANS. 387 

explained to them the imj)ortance of immediate action. 
But the attendance of Indians at Albany was not large. 
The gi-eat body of the Mohawk warriors had left the coun- 
try with Brant ; and the most influential of the Onon- 
dagas, Cayugas, and Senecas, had accom^^anied Guy 
Johnson and Brant to Montreal. The larger number 
of those present were Oneitlas, and leading men of the 
Schoharie canton of the Mohawks, the latter headed by 
Little Abraham, the sachem of the Lower Mohawk Castle, 
and next to Brant in influence over the minds of the Na- 
tion. 

The Indians first held a conference with the Albany 
Committee concerning some local matters, and then, on 
the 24th, received a complimentary visit from the Indian 
Commissioners, and a deputation of the leading men of 
' Albany. Schuyler was at the head of the commissioners, 
and the chiefs were all rejoiced to see him. He had, long 
before, been adopted as a child of the Mohawks, and made 
a chief, with the name of Tho-rah Than-yea-da-kayer. 
All the other commissioners appointed by the General 
Congi-ess were present, except the venerable Major Joseph 
Hawley, of Watertown, Massachusetts, one of the soundest 
and purest patriots of the day. His old age and ill-health 
compelled him to decline the office. In his letter to Schuy- 
ler, acq^uainting him with his determination, Major Hawley 
said : 

" From your known character as a most trusty and able friend to the 
liberties and rights of America, but more especially from the character 
given you by the delegates for this colony, I greatly rejoice at the 
honorable and most important offices which you sustain, and am ready 
to anticipate the happiness of hearing, in a very few days, of your suc- 
cess in the all-important expedition which you are upon, and that you 
shall have safely penetrated into Canada, at least as far as Montreal, 
and thereby secure the Canadians and all the Indians in the American 
interest. But I ask your parduu, sir, for so much as seeming to suggest 



388 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [^T. 42. 

to you the infinite importance of your enterprise to the Amerioan colo- 
nies. May Heaven protect, direct, and apimate you and honor you 
with glorious success, which will rejoice the hearts of all good men in 
Britain and America."* 

The conference was commenced on the 25th of August. 
It was opened by a speech from an Oneida sachem, after 
which, all sat down and smoked the pipe of peace together. 
When this ceremony was ended, General Schuyler .read to 
them an appropriate and effective speech in behalf of the 
commissioners, reminding them of former covenants of 
friendship with the English, and exhorting them to cherish 
union among themselves, and peace and friendship with 
the colonists. This pleased the Indians, for they had ex- 
pected to be called upon to take up arms against the king. 
With this anticipation the Oneida orator had explicitly 
declared that they considered the great dispute a family 
quarrel, in which they would not interfere, but would re- 
main neutral, and hoped the commissioners would not re- 
quire more of them. The Rev. Mr. Kirkland was the 
interpreter. 

On the following day, the address, prepared by the 
Continental Congress (considerably modified by the com- 
missioners), was presented to the Indians, the delivery and 
interpretation of which occupied the sittings of two days. 
The Indians then required a whole day to deliberate among 
themselves upon the subject ; and their final answer, made 
by Little Abraham, was not delivered until the 31st of 
August. 

Little Abraham's speech was pacific. Deceived by Sir 
Guy Johnson, they assured the commissioners that he had 
advised them, at the recent council at Oswego, to assume 
and preserve a neutral position. He must have spoken to 

* Autograph letter, August 23, 1775. 



1775.] CONFERENCE WITH THE INDIANS. 389 

these friends of the colonies with a " forked tongue" — in 
dissimulation — for he immediately led others, as we have 
seen, to Canada, to become allies of Sir Guy Carleton and 
Sir Frederick Haldimand. In the course of his speech 
Little Abraham professed a great attachment on the part 
of himself and his people to Sir John Johnson, who had 
been born among them, and they desired that he should 
be unmolested. They also preferred the same request in 
behalf of their missionary, the Rev. Mr. Stuart, a Scottish 
minister, who had been sent among them by the king. 
They also requested that the Indian trade might be re-, 
opened with them, both at Albany and Schenectady, and 
that somebody might be appointed to guard the tree of 
peace at Albany, and keep the council-fire burning. 

On the first of September, the commissioners, in their 
reply to Little Abraham's speech, acceded to the principal 
requests of the Indians, exhibited toward them the most 
conciliatory feelings, and informed them that General 
Schuyler and Mr. Douw had been appointed to keep the 
council-fire burning, and to guard the tree of peace at 
Albany. On the following day another council was held 
by the Indians with the Albany Committee ; and that 
afternoon many of the savages turned their faces home- 
ward, and went over the sand hills toward the setting sun. 
This was the last Indian council ever held in Albany, not- 
withstanding Schuyler and Douw were appointed to keep 
the fire burning. The result was satisfactory to all par- 
ties. The people of Try on county were relieved of fears 
of any immediate danger from the Indians, and the labors 
of the Albany Committee of Safety were directed to other 
important matters. 

The final effect of the conference was not important. 
Unfortunately a malignant fever broke out among the 



390 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [^t. 42. 

Indians soon after their return home, and many were 
swept away by it. The Schoharie delegates siiflfered most 
severely. They had never experienced sickness like it ; 
and believing it to be a scourge used for their punishment 
by the Great Spirit because they had not taken sides with 
the Kinff, the survivors followed their brethren who went 
to Canada with Guy Johnson ; and in subsequent inva- 
sions of Tyron county these were among the most relent- 
less and cruel. 

The fact that Sir John Johnson yet lingered in John- 
son Hall, at Johnstown, with a large body of loyalists 
around him ready to act at any moment as he might 
dictate, gave the republicans at Albany and in the Mohawk 
Valley much uneasiness. They were well assured that he 
was in secret communication with Governor Tryon at New 
York, and they felt the necessity of keeping constant Avatch 
over his movements. Already the Tories had committed 
acts of violence under the shadow of his protection ; and 
between the Whigs and Tories of the Mohawk Valley 
there was great exasperation of feeling. One of the most 
obnoxious of the latter was Alexander White, sheriff of 
the county. When the first liberty-pole set up in the 
Mohawk Valley was raised, at the German Flats, White, 
at the head of a band of Loyalists, cut it down. The 
Dutch and German population in that vicinity were mostly 
Whigs, and a decided majority of the j^opulation. After 
this outrage, the inhabitants were regularly enrolled by 
the Tryon County Committee, and organized as militia. 
Sheriff White was deposed, and Joshua Frey was ap- 
pointed in his place ; and the General Committee took 
into their hands all civil and military jurisdiction over a 
large section of the county. 

Further obnoxious acts of White caused increased irri- 



1775.] ARREST OF SHERIFF WHITE. 391 

tation. On some flimsy pretext, lie committed an active 
Whig, named Fiiuda, to the jail near Johnson Hall. 
About fifty Wliig's proceeded to the jail at night, released 
Fonda by force, and then proceeded to the residence of 
White and demanded his legal release. White fired upon 
the Whigs from an upper window. Tlie latter broke open 
his doors, and he would doubtless have been captured by 
them, had not the report of a gun, fired at Johnson Hall, 
warned them that Sir John had signalled his j)artisans 
and retainers, five hundred strong, to come to the rescue. 
The Whigs withdrew, assembled at Caughnawaga, and 
sent a deputation to Sir John to demand a surrender of 
White to them. It was refused ; and White, who had 
been dismissed from office by the people, was re-commis- 
sioned by Governor Tryon. The County Committee would 
not let him enter upon his duties ; and the tide of popular 
indignation soon ran so high against him that White 
deemed it prudent to fly toward Canada. He was cap- 
tured at Jessup's Landing, on the Upper Hudson, and con- 
veyed to Ticonderoga, where, on the 12tli of August, he 
wrote a most humble note to General Schuyler, saying : 

" With the greatest submission I humbly malve bold to trouble you 
Avith this, hoping that you '11 take my case into your tender considera- 
tion. If you doubt anything that I have said, I wOuld be proud if you 
would leave it to the Committee of Albany to inquire into the whole 
affair, and to send up for evidences. I will make oath before you that 
I came away with no intention to act against the liberties of the coun- 
try."* 

General Schuyler sent White under a guard to the 
Committee of Albany, with a request that they should 
forward him to the Provincial Congress of New York. 
The Committee were about to do so, when, at the suit of 

** Autograph letter. 



392 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [JEv. 42. 

Abraham C. Ciiyler, the Mayor of Alt)any, White was re- 
tained. The mayor was a moderate loyalist, and for this 
interference he received a severe rebuke from Schuyler. 
White was imprisoned in Albany for a while, and was 
then released on parole. 

Having thus disposed of one of the most active of John • 
son's partisans, the Tryon County Committee resolved to 
probe the intentions of the baronet to the core. Every 
day evidence of his malign influences became more and 
more visible, yet he had adroitly avoided any outward 
show of hostility to the republican cause. His retainers, 
chiefly Scotch Highlanders, had become very offensive in 
their conduct. They cast every obstacle in the way of the 
Tryon County Committee, slandered its members, spoke 
openly for the crown and against the Whigs, and at the 
same time were sharing the confidence and the 'bounty 
of Sir John. On this account, the Committee, early 
in September, denounced him to the Provincial Congress 
of New York, saying — "We have great suspicions, and 
are almost assured, that Sir John has a continued cor- 
respondence with Colonel Guy Johnson and his party." 
These suspicions were well founded, for it was afterward 
ascertained that letters had passed between them, carried 
by Indians in the heads of their tomahawks and the orna- 
ments about their persons. The Tryon County Committee, 
of whom Nicholas Herkimer* was chairman, took some 
action in the matter, a little later ; but the Provincial 
Congress, governed by a wise policy, advised them not to 
molest Sir John as long as he should continue inactive. 

On the 26th of August, General Schuyler received in- 
formation from the North that caused his immediate de- 

* His autograph, before me, sliows the orthography of his name, from hia 
own pen, to iiave been Herkheimer 



1775.] RICHARD MONTGOMERY. 393 

parture for Ticonderoga. A dispatch from Major Brown 

to General Montgomery contained alarming intelligence of 

the activity of the enemy at St. John's. That gentleman 

m-ged an immediate forward movement of the army, as 

Carleton was almost ready to proceed up the lake to 

attack Ticonderoga. 

'' I am so much of Brown's opinion," wrote Montgomery, '' that I 
think it absokitely necessary to move down the lake with tlie utmost 
dispatch. Shoukl the enemy get their vessels into the lake, 'tis over 
with us for this summer, for which reason I have ordered two twelve 
pounders to be gotten ready to-morrow, if possible, and iron-work to 
make logs fast together for a boom, and hope to be able, if we can got 
down in time, to prevent their entrance . into the lake, by taking post 
at Isle aux Noix. This intelligence has involved me in a great dilemma 
— the moving without your orders I don't like ; but, on the other hand, 
the prevention of the enemy is of the utmost consequence. If I must 
err I wish to be on the right side. The express will go night and day, 
and I hope you will join us with all expedition. Let me entreat you 
(if you can possibly) to follow us in a whale-boat, leaving somebody to 
bring forward the troops and artillery. It will give the men great con- 
fidence in your spirit and activity. How necessary this confidence is 
to a general, I need not tell you. * * * j most heartily wish this may 
meet with your approbation ; and be assured I have your honor and 
reputation highly at heart, as of the greatest consequence to the public 
service ; that all my ambition is to do my duty in a subordinate capacity, 
without the least ungenerous intention of lessening that merit so justly 
your due, and which I omit no opportunity of setting in its fullest light."* 

This letter, so decisive, frank, and generous, is a fair 
index to the character of Montgomery, whom Schuyler 
dearly loved as a brother. He was a handsome Irish 
gentleman, and had been a soldier in service since the 
fifteenth year of his age. He was now in his fortieth 
year. He was near the gallant Wolfe when he fell upon 
the Plains of Abraham, in 1759 ; and he afterward fol- 
lowed General Lyman to the siege of Havanna. Disap- 
pointed in his expectations of promotion, he sold his com- 
mission in the army, emigrated to America, and settled on 
* Autot,Taph Letter, Aug. 25, 1775. 
* 17* 



394 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [JEt. 42, 

the banks of the Hudson, in Duchess county, where, in 
1773, he married a daughter of Robert Livingston, and 
sister of the eminent Cliancellor Livingston. He had just 
commenced building a pleasant mansion near Rhinebeck 
village* when he was honored with the commission of a 
brigadier in the Continental army, and called to the field. 
It was a hard trial for him to leave his young wife, and the 
pleasures and repose of domestic life in the country, where 
he was surrounded with everything to make him happy ; 
but he sacrificed all cheerfully for tlie public good, saying, 
"It is an event which must put an end, for a while, perhaps 
forever, to the quiet scheme of life I had prescribed for 
myself; for, though entirely unexpected and undesircd by 
me, the will of an oppressed people, compelled to choose 
between liberty and slavery, nmst be obeyed." 

With such sentiments glowing in his bosom, Mont- 
gomery hastened to join Schuyler at Ticonderoga, leaving 
in the ears of his sorrowing wife, when he had imi)vinted 
upon her lips the parting kiss, at Saratoga, the delightful 
words — " You shall never blush for your Montgomery." 
She remembered with pride this noble assurance and its 
more noble vindication, during a widowhood of more than 
half a century. 

Schuyler highly approved of Montgomery's proposed 
course in moving down the lake, and he made immediate 
preparations to return to Ticonderoga, and follow him, 
notwithstanding the extreme illness of his wife, his own 
tortures by a rhuematism almost as severe as his hereditary 
gout, and menaces of a bilious fever. 

It was on Saturday evening when Montgomery's letter 
came ; and almost at the same moment a dispatch was re- 
ceived from General Washington at Cambridge, informing 

■■' Now (I860), the residence of Lewis Liviugston, I'-sq. 



1775.] A NEW EXPEDITION PROPOSED, 395 

him tliat several of the St. Francis tribe of Indians had 
just visited the camp and confirmed previous accounts of 
" the good disposition of the Indian nations and Canadi- 
ans to the interest of America ;" that British troops had 
not left Boston for Quebec; and that he had considered 
the plan of an expedition "to penetrate into Canada by- 
way of Kennebec Eiver, and so to Quebec by a route 
ninety miles below Montreal/' to cooperate with the ex- 
pedition under Schuyler, the final determination concerning 
it being deferred until he should hear from that officer. 
He desired Schuyler, if he meant to proceed toward Can- 
ada, to acquaint him speedily and particularly with all 
information that might be " material in the consideration 
of a step of so much importance." "iMot a moment's 
time," lie said, " is to be lost in the preparation for this 
enterprise, if the advices received from you favor it. With 
the utmost expedition, the season will be considerably ad- 
vanced, so that you will dismiss the express as soon as 
possible." 

Schuyler detained the express over night, and dispatched 
him with a reply to Washington early on Sunday morn- 
ing. After saying that he was under the necessity of 
leaving the Indian business at Albany in the hands of his 
colleagues, and repairing immediately to Ticonderoga, and 
giving his views about the Canadians and the Indians, he 
said : 

"I thank your Excellenry for the honor you have done me in com- 
municating to me your plan for an expedition into Canada. The in- 
closed information of Ferrs, which corroborates not only the informa- 
tion of Major Brown [that contained in the two affidavits of Dugni<l and 
Shatford], but every other we have had, leaves not a trace of doubt on 
my mind as to the propriety of going into Canada, and to do it lia.s 
been my determined resolution (unless prevented by iny supei'iors) for 
some time ; and I have, accordingly, since my arrival here, requested 
General Montgomery to get every thing in the best readiness lie could, 



396 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [^Et. 42. 

for that I would move immediately, weak and ill-appointed as we were ; 
and I learu with pleasure that he has, since the receipt of Griffin's in- 
formation, ordered the cannon to be embarked, and he will probably be 
off from Ticonderoga so soon that I shall only be able to join liim at 
Crown Point. Such being my intentions, and such the ideas I have 
formed of the necessity of penetrating into Canada without delay, your 
Excellency will easily believe that I felt happy to learn your intentions, 
and only wished that the thought had struck you sooner. The force I 
shall carry is far short of what I would wish. I believe it will not ex- 
ceed seventeen hundred men, and this will be a body insufficient to at- 
tempt Quebec with, (after leaving the necessary detachments at St. 
John's, Chamblce, and Montreal, should we succeed and carry those 
places), which must be respectable, to keep an open and free communi- 
cation with Crown Point, etc. 

" Having now given your Excellency the time, force, and latest in- 
telligence I have had, together with my opinion of the sentiments of 
the Canadians, I proceed to inform you of the enemy's strength. As far 
as I have been able to learn, it is from three hundred and fifty to four 
hundred at St. John's; one hundred and fifty or two hundred at Cham- 
blee ; about fifty at Montreal ; and one company at Quebec. These 
are regular troops, besides between three hundred and five hundred 
Indians, Scotchmen, and some few Canadians, with Colonel Johnson at 
La Chine. Of this party the Indians that are at St. John's are a part. 
Whether any ships of war are at Quebec I can not say. As none have 
been mentioned to me, I am rather inclined to oelieve there are none. 
Should the detachment of your body penetrate into Canada, and we 
meet with success, Quebec must inevitably fall into our hands. Should 
we meet with a repulse, which can only happen -from foul play in the 
Canadians, I shall have an opportunity to inform your party of it, that 
tlicy may carry into execution any orders you may give, in case such 
an unfortunate event should arise. 

" Your Excellency will be pleased to be particular in your orders to 
the officers that may command the detachment, that there may be no 
clashing should we join."* 

General Schuyler arrived at Ticonderoga on the even- 
ing of the 30th of August, very sick with a bilious fever 
that had seized him on the way. He was too ill to pro- 
ceed in a whale-boat, as suggested by Montgomery ; in- 
deed, he was too ill to proceed at all, with any comfort or 
safety, 

"f iI3. Letter Book.'', Sunday morning, G o'cloeic, Aug. 27, 1775. 



ni5.] EVENTS ON LAKE CHAMPLAIN, 397 

Montgomei-}', who had boon detained at Crown Point 
began to feel impatient. "A barbarous north wind," he 
"wrote on the SOth, " has kept me here. To-morrow morn- 
ing I expect to go away. I begin to be uneasy about you, 
as my express must have reached you on Saturday night, 
and it is now Wednesday niglit." As he expected, the 
wind was favorable the next morning, and the eager briga- 
dier sailed down the lake with portions of the regiments 
of Waterbury, McDougall, Parsons, and Wooster, in all 
about twelve hundred men. These were as many as his 
small supply of boats could carry. 

Feeling better after a night's rest, Schuyler gave orders 
the next morning for five hundred of Hinman's regiment 
and three hundred of Van Schaick's, with some artillery, 
to move forward as quickly as possible ; also for sending 
forward the artillery from New York, imder Lamb, then 
daily expected at Albany, with other troops, if they should 
arrive, and a supply of provisions and stores. Having 
made these arrangements, he embarked in a whale-boat, 
and overtook Montgomery and his troops at Isle la Motte, 
toward the foot of Lake Champlain, on the morning of 
the 4th of September. 

On his arrival at Ticonderoga, Schuyler was informed 
of an occurrence which gave him much uneasiness, and 
strengthened his prejudices against the eastern troops, 
especially the Green Mountain Boys. It was one of those 
cases of disobedience and independent action, Avith which 
he was exceedingly annoyed during the whole campaign, 
and which, more than any other cause, contributed to the 
final disasters of the expedition. Captain Remember 
Baker, who had figured largely in the troubles between 
New York and the people of the New Hampshire Grants, 
and was a leader among the Green Mountain Boys, had 



398 PHILIP SCHUYLEll. [.^Er. t2. 

been for a while, on his own solicitation, employed as a 
scout hy General Schuyler, with strict orders not to molest 
either Canadians or Indians. Tliese orders he violated, 
and fatal consequences ensued. The circumstances of the 
case were thus related by Schuyler in a letter from Ticon- 
deroga to Messrs. Douw and Francis : 

"Captain Baker, of the unenlisted Green Mountain Boys, lately 
went into Canada, without ray leave, with a party of five men, and dis- 
covering a boat manned by an equal number of Indians (which, from 
authentic intelligence sent me from Canada, I learn were of the Caugh- 
nawaga tribe), attempted to fire on them, but his gun missing, and he, 
putting his head from behind the tree where he stood in order to ham- 
mer his flint, received a shot in his forehead, and instantly expired, 
upon which his party returned the fire and unfortunately killed two of 
the Indians. This event, my Canadian correspondent informs me, has 
induced some of the Indians of that tribe to join the regular forces at 
St. John's. What the consequence of Baker's imprudence Avill be, is 
hard to forsee. It behoves us, however, to attempt to eradicate from 
the minds of the Indians any evil impressions they may have imbibed 
from this mortifying circumstance; but what measures to take to gain 
so desirable an end I am utterly at a loss to determine. Perhaps a few 
Indians of the Six Nations might be willing to join the army under my 
command on a peaceable message to those of Canada ; and a? this ac- 
co-imt will most certainly reach the Six Nations, I believe it will be 
most prudent to prepare them for it in such a manner as you, who can 
be assisted with the best advice at Albany, shall determine."* 

The commissioners, viewing the event as one of great im- 
portance, as it might seriously affect the temper of the 
Caughnawaga and other Indians toward the republicans, 
acted jiromptly on the suggestions in Schuyler's letter. 
They immediately communicated the whole matter to 
Little Abraham and his associates, who had not yet left 
Albany. They listened with patience, and believed the 
words of the commissioners, who assured them that Baker's 
conduct was unauthorized, and was condemned by Schuy- 

* Schuyler's MS. Letter Books. 



1775.] THE CANADIANS COUllTED. 399 

ler and all txue republicans. They also agreed to send a 
deputation to their brethren in Canada, to explain the 
matter. " Mr. Fulmer goes with them as interpreter, and 
to help them forward," wrote the commissioners to General 
Schuyler, " and we have given special directions that they 
should be accommodated at the several stages. You will, 
sir, observe by their reply, that they received the news 
with candor, and we do not perceive that it has made any 
ill impressions upon them. They considered the fact, if 
true (for they seemed much inclined to disbeiieve it), was 
merely an unfortunate accident. "■•'•" 

The anxiety manifested by Schuyler and the commis- 
sioners, because of the acts of Baker and his men, shows 
how sensible they were of the real weakness of the invad- 
ing army, and the necessity of preserving every element of 
strength, positive and negative, in the perilous campaign 
before them. They could not afford to lose the friendship 
or even the advantages of the neutrality of a single man 
of the forest or inhabitant of Canada ; and every possible 
measure was employed to conciliate both. 

The friendship of the Canadians (or at least their 
neuterality), as we have seen, was considered of vast im- 
portance to the republican cause, at that juncture, by the 
Continental Congress and the military leaders ; and every 
art of kindness and conciliation was employed to make 
them active or passive friends. The Canadians were dis- 
posed to be friendly to '•' the Bostonians," as the re- 
publicans were called in that province, and many suffered 
imprisonment and other punishments because they would 
not take up arms for the king. But most of them were 
cautious, and refrained from openly espousing the cause 
of the colonists so long as there remained a doubt of the 
* Autograph letter, September 4, 1775. 



400 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [Mt 42. 

ability of the republican army to maiutain a successful 
invasion of their province. Emissaries were accordingly 
sent among them to speak words of encouragement and 
explain the delays ; and on the 5th of September General 
Schuyler sent out from Isle aux Noix, which his troops 
had just taken possession of, the following manifesto, in 
the French language, to be distributed among the Cana- 
dians :* 

* It seems proper here to notice some erroneous statements made in 
Hollister's Uistory of Connecticut (published in two volumes, in 1855), in 
which the writer, in defending the character of General Woostcr, considered 
il necessary to defame that of General Schuyler — a very illogical as well as 
unfair method of defense. After speaking of the march of Arnold through 
the wilderness to Quebec, ho says: "Generals Montgomery and Wooster, La 
the meantime, had been joined by General Schuyler at Isle la Motte, where 
they moved on together to Isle aux Noix. Here Montgomery drew up a 
Declaration, which ho sent among the Canadians by Colonel Allen and 
Major Brown, assuring them that the army was designed only against the 
English garrisons, and was not intended to i»terfere with the rights, liberties, 
or religion of tho people." 

This declaration w;i3 drawn up by General Schuyler (see his letter to "Wash- 
ington, Correspondence of the Revolution, i. 40), and was translated into 
French by his interpreter, the Rev. Mr. Tetard. Two copies of the mani- 
festo, before me, are in the latter named gentleman's hand-writing. 

As to General Wooster, ho did not join the army under Schuyler and 
Montgomery, until full six weeks afterward. He lingered about Harlem 
until late in September, when he received a peremptory command from the 
Continental Congress, to proceed to Albany, and there await the orders of 
General Schuyler. (See Journals of Congress, Sept. 20, 1775.) His reply, 
on the 23d, is dated at Harlem. He embarked for Albany on the 28th, and 
did not leave that city until the 8th of October. On the 5th of that month 
he wrote a brief note to Schuyler, from Albany, inclosing a return roll of 
" six companies of the First Regiment of the Connecticut forces." On the 8th 
Walter Livingston, in a letter to Schuyler, from Albany, said: "Brigadier- 
General Wooster leaves tliis morning for Ticonderoga." He held a court- 
martial at Fort George, on the 13th of October, wrote to General Schuyler 
from Ticonderoga on the 19th, and joined the army under Montgomery, 
then investing St. John's, only a few days before the capitulation of that 
place — in time to share in tho honors of tho victory, and the praises of Con- 
gress. (See Journals of Congress, Nov. 30, 1775.) 

I should not have taken this special notice of the errors here corrected, 
had not the writer of tho history alluded to made them a part of a series of 



1775.] REVOLUTIONARY MANIFESTO. 401 

^'Friends and Countrymen : The various causes that liavc driven the 
ancient British colonies in America to arms have been so fully set forth 
in the several petitions, papers, letters, and declarations, published by 
the grand Congress, that our Canadian brethren, at the extirpation of 
whose liberty, as well as ours, the various schemes of a cruel ministry 
are directly tending, can not fail of being informed. And we can not 
doubt that you are pleased that the grand Congress have ordered an 
army into Canada to expel from thence, if possible, those British troops 
who, now acting under the orders of a despotic ministry, would wish to 
enslave their countrymen. This measure, necessary as it is, the Con- 
gress would not have entered on but in the fullest confidence that it 
would be perfectly agreeable to you, for, judging of your feelings by 
their own, they could not conceive that any thing but the force of ne- 
cessity would induce you tamely to bear the insult and ignominy that 
are daily imposed on you, or that you could calmly sit by and see those 
chains forging which are intended to bind you, your posterity and ours, 
in one common and eternal slavery. To secure you and ourselves from 
such a dreadful bondage ; to prevent the effects that might follow from 
the ministerial troops I'emaining in Canada ; to restore to you those 
rights which every subject of the British empire, from the highest to 
the very lowest order, whatever his religious sentiments may be, is en- 
titled to, are the only views of the Congress. You will readily beUeve 
me, when I say that the Congress have given me the most positive 
orders to cherish eveiy Canadian and every friend to the cause of hberty, 
and sacredly to guard their property ; and such is the confidence I have 
in the good disposition of my army that I do not believe I shall have 
occasion to punish a single offense committed against you. 

" A treaty of friendship has just been concluded with the Six Nations 
at Albany, and I am furnished with an ample present for their Caughna- 
waga brethren and other Canadian tribes. If any of them have lost 
their lives it was done contrary to my orders, and by scoundrels ill- 
affected to our glorious cause. I shall take great pleasure in burying 
the dead and wiping away the tears of their surviving relations, which 
you will communicate to them."* 

Well supplied with copies of this manifesto, Colonel 
Ethan Allen and Major Brown, with interpreters, started 

charges against General Schuyler in succeeding pages of his work, which are 
not only ungenerous in the extreme, but utterly unjust, as I shall attoaipt to 
show in future pages, when considering the difficulties that oecurrod between 
Schuyler and Wooster, both patriots of purest st.inip but different in temper, 
views, and position. Wooster at that time was old and Infirm. 
* Thus was in allusion to those killed by Captain Baker's men. 



402 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [JEt. 42. 

for Canada the noxt morning, to confer witli Colonel 
James Liv'ingston, then residing near ChaniLlee, to recon- 
noiter the country between the Sorel and the St. Law- 
rence, to present the friendly address to the people, and 
to ascertain their sentiments. This was a delicate and 
somewhat perilous mission, for the British troops, alarmed 
by the presence of the invaders, Avere extremely vigilant, 
and the Canadians, who were timid and fickle, were some- 
times treacherous. 



CHAPTER XXIII. 

The army under Schuyler took possession of the Isle 
aux Noix, twelve miles south of St John's, on the evening 
of the 4th of September, the day of tlie arrival of the 
General at Isle la Motte. On the following day he drew 
up the declaration already mentioned, and sent Allen and 
Brown among the Canadians with it, and then prepared 
to push on to St. John's, notwithstanding his effective 
force did not exceed one thousand men. With these he 
embarked early on the morning of the 6th, leaving the 
baggage and provisions, except a supply for four days, at 
the Isle aux Noix. They proceeded to within two miles of 
St. John's without molestation, when the garrison opened 
a harmless cannonade upon them from the fort. They 
pushed forward lialf a mile nearer the post, and landed 
in a deep, close swamp, which extended very nearly to the 
fort. There they landed and marched in the best order 
possible in such a tangled way, with a detachment from 
Waterbury's Connecticut troops, under Major Hobby, as 
a flank for the left wing, tliat moved a little in advance of 
the main body. Hobby was attacked when crossing a deep, 
muddy brook, by a party of Indians and some Tories, who 
delivered a heavy fire ; but the loss on both sides was trifl- 
ing. The republicans lost only a sergeant, corporal, and 
three privates killed, and one missing, and eight privates 
wounded, of whom three died the ensuing night. Hobl)y 



404 I'HILir SCHUYLER. [^t. 42. 

was shot through the thigh, Captain Mead through the 
shoulder, and Lieutenant Brown in the hand, but all 
soon recovered of their wounds. This was the first blood 
shed in the actual invasion of Canada. The assailants 
were driven back, and the Americans, taught by the event 
to be more cautious, concentrated their forces on the ap- 
proach of night, and cast up an intrenchment for their 
defense, in the event of a sudden attack. 

In the evening, a gentleman living in the neighborhood 
entered General Schuyler's tent very cautiously, and gave 
him information that caused him to fall back to the Isle 
aux Noix, He informed Schuyler that there were no reg- 
ular troops in Canada, except the twenty-sixth regiment, 
under the command of General Richard Prescott, most 
of whom were at St. John's and Chamblee, the latter a 
fort, twelve miles further down the Sorel than the former. 
He said there were one hundred Indians at St. John's, 
and quite a large body of savages were with Colonel Guy 
Johnson at Montreal ; that the works at St. John's were 
complete and strong, and plentifully furnished with can- 
non and stores ; that one armed vessel, pierced for six- 
teen guns, was launched, and nearly ready to sail ; and 
that he believed not one Canadian would join the republi- 
cans, while all would remain strictly neutral. He assured 
the general that they would be pleased to have a republi 
can army penetrate their province, provided the safety of 
their persons and property might be insured, and they 
were paid in gold and silver for all they might furnish the 
troops ; that he thought it imprudent to attack St. John's 
at that time, and advised Schuyler to send some parties 
among the inhabitants, while the remainder of the army 
should draw back to the Isle aux Noix, from whence he 
might have intercourse with Laprairie and Montreal. 



1775.] TROOPS AT ISLE AUX NOIX. 405 

Much of this information proved to be deceptive, but 
it so impressed Schuyler as truth that he called a Council 
of War early on the morning of the 7th, to whom he com- 
municated it.* The result was, that considering the for- 
ward state of the armed vessel at St. John's, it was " un- 
animously agreed to be indispensably necessary to take 
measures for preventing her entrance into the lake. It 
was the opinion of the council that this could only be 
effected at the Isle aux Noix. The weak state of the 
artillery affording no prospect of silencing the enemy's guns 
under the protection of which they were rigging her, it was 
therefore resolved to return, without delay, to the Isle 
aux Noix, throw a boom across the channel, erect the 
proper works for its defense, then wait for certain intelli- 
gence touching the intentions of the Canadians, and when 
reinforced, send a strong detachment into the country by 
land, should the Canadians favor such a design."f 

When this course was determined on, Schuyler gave 
immediate orders for the embarkation of the troops "with- 
out hurry and without noise ;" and they returned to the 
Isle aux Noix in the same order as they left it — the New 
York troops in front, the Connecticut troops next, and the 
row-galleys in the rear of all. 

On arriving at the Isle aux Noix, Greneral Schuyler 

sent a detailed account of operations in that quarter to the 

President of Congress, in which he observed : 

" I can not estimate the obligations I lie under to General Mont- 
gomery for the many important services he has done, and daily does, in 
which he has had little assistance from me, as I have not enjoyed a 
moment's health since I left Fort George. I am now so low as not to 
be able to hold the pen. Should we not be able to do any thing de- 

"' The council was composed of Generals Schuyler aud Montgomery, Colo- 
nel Waterbury and Lieutenant-Colonel Whiting of the Fifth Connecticut Regi- 
ment, and Lieutenant-Colonel Ritzema of the First New York Regiment. 

f Schuyler's Orderly Book. 



406 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [^T. 42. 

cisively in Canada I shall judge it best to move from this, which is a 
very wet and unhealthy part of the country, unless I receive your 
orders to the contrar3^"* 

This letter, which reached Philadelphia on the 18th, 
occasioned much uneasiness in Congress, for it was ap- 
parent that the success of the expedition into Canada 
was most to be desired of all the operations of the cam- 
paign. All other business was suspended for the purpose 
of discussing its contents, and after an animated debate, 
Messrs. Deane, Rutlcdge, Chase, and Jay, were appointed 
a committee to draft a letter to General Schuyler on the 
subject. On the 20th it was addressed to him by the 
President of Congress, who said : 

" I am directed by the Congress to express their approbation of 
your conduct, as stated in your letter. Your taking possession of the 
Isle aux NoiX; and the proposed measures for preventing the enemy's 
vessels from entering the lake, appear to them highly expedient and 
necessary. The Congress have such a sense of the importance of that 
post as to wish it may not be abandoned without the most mature con- 
sideration, or the most pressing necessity. They view the expedition 
intrusted to your care as of the greatest 'consequence to the general 
cause ; and as they clearly forsee that its influence, whether success- 
ful or otherwise, will be great and extensive, they are desirous that 
nothing necessary to give it a fortunate issue, may be omitted. They 
have ordered all the forces raised in New York immediately to join 
you ; and those under General Wooster to march immediately to 
Albany ; from whence, if you should think such reinforcement neces- 
sary, you will be pleased to order them. Should you stand in need of 
further reinforcements, the Congress desire you will apply to General 
Washington. 

" The Congress repose the highest confidence in the abilities, the 
zeal, and the alacrity of the officers and forces employed on this ex- 
pedition. They are determined to spare neither men nor money ; and 
should the Canadians remain neuter, flatter themselves that the enter- 
prise will be crowned with success, notwithstanding the great and 
various difficulties to which it has been and still is exposed. 

" It is with great concern that the Congress hear of your indisposi- 

* Schuyler's MS. Letter Books. 



1775.J SICKNESS IN CAMP. 407 

ticn. They desire me to assure you of their warmest wishes for your 
recovery, and to request that, iu discharging the duties of your station, 
you will not omit the attention due to the reestablishment of your 
health." 

Several members of the Congress wrote to Schuyler 
privately, urging him to be careful of his health, for they 
felt assured that the success of the campaign depended 
chiefly upon him. 

" It gives me great concern," wrote Thomas Lynch, of South Caro- 
lina, " to find your health so much injured. Don't you know that it is 
the duty of a general to take the utmost care to bring the army into 
the field in good health? If so, how much care is to be taken of the 
head ? You must spare your body, and not expect it can possibly keep 
pace with such a spirit. If you push it too far, it will leave you and 
us in the lurch ; in short, you will kiU our general. 

" I see the difficulties with which you are surrounded. These can 
can only add glory to the success of your enterprise. The Congress 
is awake at last, and feel the importance of your expedition — that 
every thing depends on its success — and I think you may depend on 
every support that is consistent with the delay that attends popular as- 
semblies." 

After returning to the Isle aux Noix, General Schuy- 
ler made strenuous efforts to hasten forward reenforcements. 
He commenced some fortifications there preparatory to the 
reception of his artillery, then hourly expected, and also 
the construction of a boom to obstruct the channel. In 
the course of a few days his little army was swelled to 
more than seventeen hundred men. 

But there was a foe at work in the camp more insidi- 
ous and more to be dreaded than the enemy in the field. 
Malaria commenced its destructive ravages. The Isle aux 
Noix is situated in the midst of a low, marshy country ; 
and before the troops had been there a week more than 
six hundred of them were on the sick list. And the un- 
wholsomeness of the air so greatly aggravated General 



408 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [^T. 42. 

Schuyler's disorders that he was soon brought to the 
borders of the grave. Bilious fever and severe rheumatism 
attacked him alternately, and he was confined to his bed 
most of the time, with great suffering of mind and body. 
Yet he persevered in duty, and did not yield until menaced 
with speedy death. 

From Livingston, Allen, and Brown, Schuyler re- 
ceived such intelligence concerning affairs in Canada, and 
the temper of the people, that on the 10th he detached 
eight hundred men, under General Montgomery, in the 
direction of St. John's. These consisted of portions of 
Hinman's, Watcrbury's, McDougall's ,and Van Schaick's 
regiments. They landed about three miles from St. John's, 
at nine o'clock in the evening, near the place where the re- 
publicans had thrown uji breast-works on the afternoon 
of the 6th. From that point Montgomery sent Lieutenant- 
Colonel Ritzema of the New Yorkers, with five hundred 
men, to take post on the road leading from St. John's to 
Laprairie, in order to cut off the communication between 
St. John's and the country, according to General Schuy- 
ler's orders to that officer, issued before his departure from 
the Isle aux Noix. They had not proceeded far when a 
false alarm created a panic, and the troops fled back in 
confusion, some of them turning into the woods to avoid 
the ofiicers at the breast-work, who, they apprehended, 
would again command them to move forward. When 
mustered, in order to advance again, Ritzema had only 
about fifty men. These were soon increased to two hun- 
dred, but the day was so far spent that it was determined 
to delay further attempts until morning. 

Early the next morning, at the request of several 
officers, Montgomery called a Council of War, composed 
of himself. Colonel Waterbury, Lieutenant-Colonel Ritze- 



1775.] COWARDLY CONDUCT. 409 

ma, Majors Elmore, Zedwitz, aiul Dimon, and Captains Starr, 
Smith, Bearsley, Reed, Brown, Weissenfeldts, Willett, 
Mott, Lyon, Yates, McCracken, and Livingston. It was 
unanimously determined to proceed, and the consent of 
the troops was obtained by a vote — a mode of proceeding 
so unmilitary and detrimental to all authority, that Mont- 
gomery consented to it only on the compulsion imposed by 
the exigencies of the case. Just as the detachment was 
about to march, intelligence came that the enemy's armed 
vessel was lying only half a mile from them, and it was 
thought prudent to reembark, and return to the Isle aux 
Noix. While this matter was under consideration, half 
the detachments from the New England regiments em- 
barked without orders. 

On the way back to the Isle aux Noix, the general 
ordered the boats to stop at a point eight miles from St. 
John's, to try the temper of the troops by asking them to 
march from that point against the fort. The proposition 
w\as voted down. "When the halt was made at the 
point," says- the narrator from whose notes these facts 
have been drawn, " the general and captains, with a few 
guards, disembarked ; and on a cry by one of the men 
that boats were coming ! the troops were with difficulty 
restrained from pushing off without their officers !"* 

Montgomeiy was mortified by this bad conduct of 
the soldiers, and foresaw nothing but disaster before 
him, if such were the men on whom he was to depend 
for support in the invasion of Canada. Some persons 
at the time had strong suspicions that Ritzema was 
either a coward or a traitor. He deserted to the enemy 
within a year from that time ; and Major Zedwitz was 

* MS. Narrative by General Montgomeiy. 

18 



410 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [,Et. 42. 

cashiered for an alleged attempt at a treasonable corre- 
spondence with Governor Tryon. 

Schuyler and Montgomery now arranged a plan for an 
immediate attack upon St.- John's, The troops under 
Ritzema, who had returned to duty, seemed heartily 
ashamed of their " unbecoming behavior," and Mont- 
gomery considered their sensibility to ridicule as a promise 
of better conduct in the future. Schuyler accordingly 
issued orders on the 13th for an embarkation on the fol- 
lowing day of the artillery that had arrived, and of the 
whole army on the 15tli. He was then too ill to leave his 
bed, but on the 14th he felt so much better that he had 
hopes of moving with the troops. " But by ten o'clock at 
night," he said, in a letter to Washington, " my disorder 
re-attacked me with redoubled violence, and every fair pros- 
pect of a speedy recovery vanished." Yet he lingered in 
that unhealthy spot a day or two longer, still hoping 
to move with the army. At last he was comjjelled to 
transfer the general command to Montgomery, and take 
passage in a covered boat for Ticouderoga, where he arrived 
at three o'clock in the afternoon of the 18th, feeling some- 
what invigorated. " I find myself much better," he wrote 
to Washington, on the 20th, "as the fever has left me, 
and hope soon to return where I ought and wish to be, 
unless a barbarous relapse should dash the cup of hope 
from my lips." 

An hour after Schuyler left the Isle aux Noix, he 
met Colonel Seth Warner, with one liundred and seventy 
Green Mountain Boys, in boats, on their way to the camp, 
" being tlie first," the general said, " that appeared of 
that boasted corps." Part of the corps had already mu- 
tinied and d(^serted, and some had been left at Crown 
Point. Captain Allen's company of the same corps, " every 



1775.] DISEASE AND VEXATION. 411 

man of which was raised in Connecticut," arrived at Ti- 
conderoga on the 19th ; Colonel Bedell's New Hampshire 
troops had arrived on the 16th ; Captain Henry B. Liv- 
ingston's corps had already passed down the lake ; and 
Captain Lamb, with his artillery, was expected to join 
Montgomery on the 20th. The last-mentioned corps was 
of great importance, for there were none in the invading 
amry that knew any thing about the proper management 
of cannon. Some troops yet remained at Ticonderoga, 
and others had just arrived". Schuyler at once issued 
orders for the most of these to embark immediately for 
Montgomery's army, and by this means a reenforcenieut 
of several hundred men was given to it. 

Schuyler found the promises of convalescence fallacious. 
Fever and rheumatism had reduced him to a skeleton, and 
he found no relief at Ticonderoga. He was also constantly 
annoyed by the bad conduct of troops, and in his vexation 
of mind and body, he wrote as follows to the Continental 
Congress, on the 25th of September : 

" The vexation of spirit under which I labor, that a barbarous com- 
plication of disorders should prevent me from reaping those laurels for 
which I have so unweariedly wrought, since I was honored with this 
command; the anxiety of mind I have suffered since my arrival here 
lest the army should starve, occasioned by a scandalous want of subor- 
dination and inattention to my orders in some of the officers that I left 
to command at the different posts; the vast variety of disagreeable and 
vexatious incidents that almost every hour arise, in some department or 
other, not only retard my cure, but have put me considerably back for 
some days past. If Job had been a general, in my situation, his mem- 
ory had not been so famous for patience. But the glorious end we 
have in view, and which I have a confident hope will be attained, will 
atone for all."* 

Two days after writing this letter he received the one 
from the President of Congress, already given, ai)proving 

* Schuyler's MS. Letter Books. 



412 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [Mt. 42. 

of his conduct, and urging him to take good care of his 
health. This, and the private letters sent from Phila- 
delphia, soothed his spirit. 

" The honorable Congress have my warmest acknowledgments," he 
said in reply, " and they may rest assured that nothing on my part shall 
be wanting to insure that success they so earnestly wish ; and I hope 
soon to congratulate them on it. Whilst I deprecate the imtimely mis- 
fortune which prevents me from sharing in the immediate glory, it was 
perjiaps inflicted in such a critical hour to serve the common cause, for 
if I had not arrived here on the veiy day I did, as sure as God lives 
the army would have starved." 

It was, indeed, fortunate for the army that Schuyler 
returned to Ticonderoga at that time. He found every 
thing connected with the forwarding of provisions in the 
greatest disorder. Neglect, dishonesty, peculation — every 
thing calculated to rob the army of necessary stores were 
rife, and provisions on the way were detained by neglect 
or indolence, in a most shameful manner. " The letters I 
have been obliged to write to several officers," he said to 
the Congress, " I have been under the necessity of couch- 
ing in terms that I should be ashamed of, did not necessity 
apologise for me." He then gave in detail illustrations of 
the neglect, and added, "the horrid anxiety I suffered 
from this dreadful situation of the army is now abated, 
and I hope for so sufficient a restoration as to enable me 
to join soon." 

Less cautious than Schuyler, Montgomery left the Isle 
aux Noix on the day when the invalid commanding gen- 
eral departed for Ticonderoga, and advanced upon St. 
John's with about one thousand men. Major Brown had 
been sent with one hundred and fifty continental troops 
and thirty Canadian recruits to reconnoiter the vicinity 
of Chambloe and make friends of the inhabitants ; Major 
James Livingston had gone farther down the river and 



1775.] TROOPS BEFORE ST. JOIIN'S, 413 

was collecting the inhabitants under his standard ; and 
Colonel Ethan Allen was near the St. Lawrence again, 
" jDreaching politics " and beating up for recruits. Alarmed 
by the temper shown bj'' the inhabitants, and the menaces 
of the invading republicans. Sir Guy Carleton had issued 
a i)roclamation in French, setting forth the disloyalty of 
the king's subjects, and offering pardon to all who should, 
within a given time, return to their allegiance and join the 
standard of the crown. But his proclamation, and the 
efforts of the French clergy and nobility, were of little 
avail. Hardly one hundred Canadians were indnced to 
join the garrison at St. John's, and few Indians had taken 
up the hatchet for the king. Carleton, in despair, wrote 
to Greneral Gage at Boston, " I had hopes of holding out 
for this year, had the savages remained firm ; but now we 
are on the eve of being overrun and subdued." 

Montgomery arrived at his old encampment near St. 
John's on the evening of the 17th of September, and made 
a forward movement early the next morning. 

"I take the opportunity of Fulmer's return with the Oneidas," 
Montgomery wrote to Schuyler, " to acquaint yon of our arrival here 
on the 17th, in the evening. Yesterday morning I inarched, with five 
hundreil men, to the north side of St. John's, where we found a paity 
of the king's troops, with field-pieces. This party had beaten off Major 
Brown a few hours before, who had imprudently thrown himself in 
their w^ay, depending on our more early arrival, which, through the 
dilatoriness of our young troops, could not be sooner effected. The 
enemy, after an ill-directed fire for some minutes, retired with precipi- 
tation, and lucky for them they did, for had we known their situation 
(which the thickness of the woods prevented our finding out till it was 
too late) there would not a man of them have returned. The old stovy 
oi treachery spread among the men as soon as we saw the enoniy. ^Ve 
were trepanned — drawn umler the guns of the fort, and what not. The 
Woodsmen* were not so expert at firing as I expected, and too many 

* The Green Mountain Boys and New Hampshire troops. 



414 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [^t. 42. 

of I hem hunpf back. Hal we kept silence at first, before we were dis- 
covered, we siionid Iiave gotten a field-piece or two."** 

The insubordinatiuu which had annoyed Schuyler and 
Montgomery so continually had i^erformed its disastrous 
work, and prevented a small but very important victoiy. 
Caution, secresy, and concert of action were out of the 
question ; and the leader, utterly powerless to command 
them, yielded with as much patience as his fiei'y spirit 
could maintain. He pushed on a little further to the 
northwest, and at the junction of the roads leading respect- 
ively from St. John's to Longeuil and Chamblee, he formed 
an entrenched camp of three hundred men to cut off the 
supplies for the enemy sent from the interior. Having 
accomplished this important work, he hastened back to 
the camp to bring his artillery up to bear upon the walls 
of the fort. These were too light to })erform very essential 
service. Captain Lamb, with the heavier cannon had not 
yet arrived. 

Montgomery now commenced the investment of Fort 
St. John. His preparations were meager, for his artillery 
was light, his mortars defective, his ammunition scarce, 
and his gunners unpracticed in their duties. Yet he 
worked on cheerfully. Schuyler, tireless in his efforts, 
was sending on additions to his forces and supplies of 
food, as full and as fast as circumstances would allow ; 
and Montgomery was soon constrained, in gratitude, to 
exclaim, in a letter to his chief, " What does not this 
army owe to your patriotism and indefatigable labors \" 

A battery was comjjleted on the 21st, on a point of 
land that commanded the fort and the vessels in the river, 
and another was cast up on the easl side of the stream, 
some distance below the fort. For a week the seige went 

* Autograph Letter, Sept. 19, 1775. 



1775.] IK SUBORDINATION. 415 

slowl}^ on. Disease, frightful in its effects, broke out 
among the soldiers. The ground was low and swampy, 
juul the trees, snuill and thickly planted, completely shut 
out the sun. Deadly malaria arose from the dank soil, 
aild Montgomery perceived that the decimation of his army 
would speedily take place, if he should remain there. 

At this juncture Captain Lamb arrived witli his heavy 
ordnance, and on the 26th of September, he bedded a thir- 
teen inch mortar near the battery, on the east side of the 
river, and hurled many shot and shell against the enemy. 
But the distance from the fort was too great to allow much 
execution from the bombardment, and Montgomery re- 
solved to abandon the batteries and take a new position 
nearer the fort, v>'here the ground was firm and the water 
wholesome. But the troops, thoroughly imbued with the 
spirit of independence, and judging for themselves that 
an attack would be unsuccessful, refused to acquiesce in 
the plan of their leader. Insubordination was at once 
rampant, and the general was informed that most of the 
troops would leave him should he attempt coercion by 
virtue of his authority. 

Unable either to punish them for t-heir mutiny, or 
to convince them of their error, Montgomery yielded so far 
as to call a Council of War. It resulted, as was expected, 
in a decision against his plan. This triumph of insubordi- 
nation made the recusants more bold. They set all law 
at defiance, and alarming disorder pervaded the American 
camp. At length a better spirit prevailed. Montgomery 
controlled his feelings, and kept his impulses under the 
restraints of his judgment. He was eloquent in speech 
and possessed most- winning ways. The mutinous knew 
him to be brave and firm ; and these faculties and attri- 
butes, working in harmony, accompHshed what oificial 



416 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [^t 42. 

power had failed to achieve. His plans were finally adopted; 
and on the 7th of October the camp was moved to higher 
ground, northwest of the fort, where intrenchments were 
thrown up, and the investment was made complete. But 
for want of siege guns the republicans were unable to 
breach the walls of the fort, or do much damage to the 
out-works of the enemy.* 

* Autograph letter, Sept. 24, 1715. 



CHAPTER XXIV. 

While the siege of St. John's was very slowly progress- 
ing, because of a want of proper supplies, a defiant, med- 
dling spirit of insubordination, general inefficiency in the 
service, and the ambition of inferior leaders who had 
been sent among the Canadians to acquire personal re- 
nown by some bold stroke for the common cause, cast seri- 
ous obstacles in the way, and lost to the republicans not 
only precious time, but the most cordial, active, and gen- 
eral support of the Canadians. 

Colonel Ethan Allen and Major Brown were both ob- 
noxious to this charge. The former, as we have seen, was 
regarded by Schuyler as a dangerous man, not because of 
any lack of patriotism, or for evil intentions, but because 
he could not be kept within subordinate bounds. Events 
partially justified the opinion. His boldness, zeal, peculiar 
personal bearing, and extravagant promises, captivated the 
simple Canadians, and he had been a very successful [joliti- 
cal preacher among them. Within a week after he left 
the camp at the Isle aux Noix he was at St. Ours, twelve 
miles southeast of the Sorel, with two hundred and fifty 
Canadians under arms, and he wrote to General Mont- 
gomery that within three days he should juin him in the 
siege of St. John's.- His letter was cliaracteristic — san- 
guine, boastful,' and indicative of the elation uf success. " I 
could raise," he wrote, " one or two thousand in a week's 

18* 



418 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [^Et. 42. 

time ; Lut I will first visit the a,rniy with a less number, 
and, if necessary, go again recruiting. Those that used to 
be enemies to our cause come cap in hand to me ; and I 
swear by the Lord I can raise three times the number of 
our army in Canada, provided you continue the siege. '"'•'•■ 

On the morning of the 24th of September, while Allen 
was on his way to Montgomery's camp, he fell in with 
Major Brown, on the road between Longueuil and La- 
prairie, who was at the head of a party of two hundred 
Americans and Canadians. Allen had with lum a guard 
of eighty men, chiefly Canadians. He and Brown, and 
then- confidants, held a piivate interview in a house near 
by, when the latter told the former, that the garrison at 
Montreal, where no danger was apprehended, did not ex- 
ceed thirty men, and the town might easily be taken. He 
2Droj)Osed that they should, with their resi)ective forces, 
cross the St. Lawrence at separate points above and be- 
low Montreal, make a simultaneous attack upon it, and 
secure a joint and very important victory. Allen eageidy 
ai^proved of the proposition. He doubtless remembered 
the pleasures of success at Ticonderoga a fe^v months be- 
fore, and the applause that followed, and also the indignity 
cast upon him in the Grants, in omitting to choose him 
the leader of the Green Mountain Boys ; and he saw a 
fair prospect of enjoying a repetition of the glory and honor 
achieved on Lake Cham plain, and -a vindication of his 
character as a brave and successful leader. His partisan 
spirit was thoroughly aroused ; and no doubt visions of 
victory and the plaudits of posterity suddenly assumed the 
shape of reality in his mind, and made him impatient for 
action. 

The plan was soon arranged between^the partisans. 

* Autograph letter, Sept. 22, 1776. 



177o.] ATTEMPTED (,' A T T U R E OF MONTKEAL. 419 

Allen Avas to return to Longueuil, on tlic suuihcrn shore 
of the St. Lawrence, a little below Montreal, and cross 
there, while Brown and his tvro hundred followers were to 
cross at Laprairic, just above the city. The passage was 
lo be accomplished in the night, and early the next morn- 
ing the exchange of three huzzas, by the two parties, was 
to be the signal of attack upon the town. These arrange- 
ments were made by the parties without tlie consent of 
Montgomery, who was anxiously waiting for the reenforce- 
ments expected from these men, to push the siege of St. 
John's to completion. 

Allen hastened back to Longueuil, added about thirty 
'■ English- Americans'" to his party, collected a few canoes, 
and crossed the river during the night of the 24th. The 
night was dark and windy, the current and eddies of St. 
Mary's rapids strong and dangerous, and the canoes few and 
fiail. The passage was protracted and tedious. Three 
times the canoes crossed and recrossed before all were 
lauded on the opposite shore ; and when the last canoe- 
load had touclied the bank, day had dawned. 

Allen placed guards in such a way that intelligence of 
his presence shotild not reach Montreal ; and then he 
anxiously aAvaited the promised huzzas from Brown's 
j)!irty. The sun arose, and yet no signal was heard. It 
mounted higher and higher toward the meridian, and still 
all was silent above. The gallant Vermonter, conscious 
of being alone, and too w^eak to carry out the enterprise, 
v*-ould have retreated, but it was too late. Already an 
escaped captive had alarmed the garrison and the city, and 
all but the first canoe-loads must become prisoners if an 
attempt should be made to recross the river. Allen would 
not leave an\^ his men. '' This," he said, " 1 could not 
reconcile to rav feelings as a man, much less as an officer, 



420 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [^t. 42. 

and I tlierefore concluded to maintain the ground, if pos- 
sible, and all to fare alike." 

On the appearance of this band, the joeople of Montreal 
were greatly excited. Allen took a defensive position, and 
resolved to sell his life dearly. The morning wore away, 
and it was afternoon before any opponents appeared. At 
three o'clock. Major Campbell, with a " mixed multitude," 
composed of forty regular troops, over two hundred Cana- 
dians, and some of the Indians then in Montreal, came 
down upon the invaders. A very sharp conflict ensued, 
which lasted almost two hours. Allen conunanded skill- 
fully and fought bravely, until only thirty or forty of his 
men remained. Some of them were wounded, and some 
had been killed. The Canadians, almost to a man, had 
deserted him at the beginning of the engagement. 

" Being almost entirely surrounded with such vast unequal numbers," 
says Allen, in his Narrative, " I ordered a retreat, but found that those 
of the enemy who were of the country, and their Indians, would run as 
fast as my men, though the regulars could not. Thus I retreated more 
than a mile, and some of the enemy, with the savages, kept flanking me, 
and others crowded hard in the rear. In fine, I expected in a very short 
time, to try the world of spirits ; for I was apprehensive that no quar- 
ter would be given to me, and, therefore, had determined to sell my 
life as dear as I could. One of the enemy's officers, boldly pressing in 
the rear, discharged his fusee at me ; the ball whistled near me as did 
many others that day. I returned the salute and missed him, as run- 
ning had put us both out of breath (for I conclude we were not fright- 
ened) ; I then saluted him with my tongue in a harsh manner and told 
him that inasmuch as his numbers were so far superior to mine, I would 
surrender, provided I could be treated with honor, and be assured of 
good quarter for myself and the men who were with uie. He answered 
I should. Another officer coming up directly after, confirmed the treaty, 
upon which I agreed to surrender with my party, which then consisted 
of thirty-one effective men, and seven wounded. I ordered them to 
ground their arms wliich they did."* ^^ 

* A Kourrative of Colonel Ethan AUen^s captivity, written by himself: 
Walpolo, 1R07. 



1775.] ETHAN ALLEN A PRISONER. 421 

The prisoners were conducted in triiun})li into Monircal, 
and delivered to Gomn'ul Prescott, a uarrow-niiuded, petty 
tyrant, who, as his subsequent conduct on Khode Island 
showed, seldom exereised the common courtesies of life 
toward the unfortunate who fell into his hands. Toward 
a man like Allen, he was disposed to be sijecially cruel ; 
and his anger was made hot by the first sight of his pris- 
oner, who was rough in manner and personal appearance. 
He exhibited none of the common characteristics of a 
soldier or a gentleman. His jacket was made of deer-skin ; 
his undervest and breeches of Sagathy ; his shoes of cow- 
skin, the soles well fortified by hob-nails ; and on his head 
was a red woolen cap. Most of his followers were equally 
rough in appearance ; and to the eye of Prescott they 
seemed more like free-booters than soldiers. 

" Who are you ? What is your name V inquired 
Prescott in a loud and angry tone, when Allen was brought 
to him in the barrack-yard at Montreal, closely guarded 
by the regular troops. He was answered by the prisoner, 
when Prescott roared out, " Are you the scoundrel who 
took Ticonderoga ?" " I am the very man," Allen reidied 
fiercely. Prescott then stormed, called him hard names, 
denounced him as a rebel, in bitter terms, and shook his 
cane over Allen's head, threatening to beat him. " I told 
him," says Allen, " he would do well not to cane me, for 
I was not accustomed to it ; and I shook my fist at him, 
telling him that was the beetle of mortality for him, if he 
offered to strike." A British officer st;uiding by, whis- 
pered to Prescott that it would be dishonorable to strik(.' a 
prisoner, and the brigadier contented himself with bestow- 
ing a few curses upon the " rebel," and assuring him tliat 
he should " grace the halter at Tyburn." He then ordered 
the prisoners to be taken by a guard on board the Gasi^e 



422 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [JSt. 42. 

war-schooner, Ciiptain Ryall, lying at Moutreal, placed 
them in irons, and thrust them into the hold of the vessel. 
This barbarous order was rigidly executed. A bar of" iron 
eight feet long, was rivited to the shackles of Allen, and 
his fellow-prisoners were fastened together in pairs, with 
hand-cuffs. ■■••■ 

Allen's shackles were so tight that he could not lie down 
except on "his back. He obtained permission to write 
to Prescott, and in his respectful letter reminded that 
officer that he was receiving treatment undeserving his 
own humane? conduct toward British prisoners who had 
been in his power. " When I had the command, and took 
Captain De Laplace and Lieutenant Fulton, with the gar- 
rison of Ticonderoga," he said, " I treated them with every 
mark of friendship and generosity, the evidence of which 
is notorious even in Canada. I have only to add that I 

* Allen in his Narrative says his " handcufl's were of the ordinary size, 
but his leg irons, which wore very tight, would weigh, he imagined, thirty 
pounds; tho bar was eight feet long and very substantial." "When, a few 
weeks later, General Wooster was in command at Montreal, he instituted in- 
quiries concerning the harsh treatment of Colonel Allen, by order of General 
Schinier. From a number of depositions, in manuscript before me, I copy 
only one, the others being substantially the same : 

" I, the subscriber, being of lawful age, do testify and say, that a gentle- 
man known as Colonel Allen, was brought on board the Gaspe man-of-war, 
then lying before the town of Montreal, some time in the month of Septem- 
ber, 177,'), and pursuant to the orders of Captain Ryall, who then commanded 
said ship, I put a pair of irons on said Allen's legs, which he wore for seven 
or eight days, during .which ho was kept by the boatswain's cabin. After- 
wards the irons wore taken ofl" his legs and handculis were put on hia hands, 
which was the practice for some considerable time; then only one leg was 
ironed in the night, and handcuOfs in the day." Further saith not 

Wm. Bradley, midshipman on board the Gaspe. 

This dopos'tion is given, because the statements of Colonel Allen that he 
was put in irons, or otlierwise treated than as a pri.soner of war, have been 
d -nied. Of the mi Ishipinau who made this deposition, Allen in his Xarrative 
B.iys : " One of the ollic;rs, by the name of Bradlej', was very generous to 
me ; he would often send mo victuals from bis own table ; nor did a day fail 
but he sent me a good drink of grog." 



1775.] EFFECT OF A L L E N ' S RAID. 423 

expect an honomblc and humane treatiuent, as an officer 
of my rank and merit should have." The brutal Prescott 
gave the ^jrisoner no response. He remaimxl in iruns on 
board the Gaspe. between five and six weeks, wlien he was 
sent to Quebec, and from thence to England to be tried for 
treason. 

The treatment which Colonel Allen received durino- a 
captivity of two years and six months, at different times, 
was disgraceful to the British authorities, and it was only 
because of the fear of unpleasant consequences to the British 
officers in the hands of the Americans, that he was re- 
leased from confinement in Pendennis Castle, and sent to 
America as a i)risoner of w^ar. He was exchanged for 
Colonel Campbell, in May, 1778. 

Allen's raid increased Montgomery's difficulties, pro- 
longed the seige, and produced a disastrous effect upon the 
campaign. It discouraged the Canadians, and caused for 
the moment a great cliange in their feelings toward the 
republican cause. Brooke Watson, an English merchant, 
who was in Montreal two or three weeks after the affair, 
and who went to England in the same ship with Allen, 
writing to Benjamin Faneuil, of Boston, said : 

" Surely the kin2;doni of Great Britain can not nmcli lonn^or be gov- 
erned by such weak councils and feeble effoits. She lias scarcely got a 
secure province in America. As to this, it has long been on the brink 
of falling into i\w hands of the most despicable wretches. Had not the 
inhabitants of this town gone out to meet Colonel Allen on Monday, 
the 25th ultimo, the town and the principal part of the province, would 
now have been in their hands, and that fellow would probably have 
been governor of Montreal. Thank Grod, tliat day's action turned tlie 
minds of the Canadians, and I have reason to hope the province out of 
danger, at least, for this yeai-."* 

To John Butler he wrote three days later : 
" Colo7iel Allen, who commanded tliis despicable party of plun- 
* Autograph letter, October 16, 1775. 



424 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [JEt. 42 

doreis (they were iDromised the i)lunder of the town) was, with most 
of his wretches, taken. lie is now in irons on board the Oaspe. This 
action gave a sudden turn to the Canadians, who before, were nine- 
tenths ibr the Bostonians. There are great numbers now in arms ibr 
the King, but the enemy have possession of the South side of the river 
as low as Verchere, except the garrison of St. John's, which they still 
invest with Uttle hopes on their side, and little fear on ours of its being 
t;ikeu."* 

Montgomery was mucli annoyed by Allen's aifair, yet it 
apjjears from his letters that he was not wholly ignorant of 
the project of the partisans before its attempted execution. 
On the morning of the 28th of September, he wrote to 
Schuyler, saying : 

" Allen, Warner, and Brown, are at Laprairie and Longueuil, with a 
party of our troops and some Canadians — how many I can't tell. They 
all speak well of the good disposition of the Canadians. They have a 
project of making an attempt on Montreal ; I fear the troops are not fit 
for it."t 

In the afternoon of the same day he wrote : 

" Since mine of this moining, I have received a letter from Mr. Liv- 
ingston,! and another from Colonel Warner, who is at Laprairie, ac- 
quainting me that Colonel Allen had passed the river at Montreal, or 
below it rather, with thirty of ours and fifty Canadians; that he had 
been attacked by a superior party from the garrison ; that he was taken 
prisoner, two or three killed and as many more wounded, and that the 
rest took to their heels. I have to lament Mr. Allen's imprudence and 
ambition, which urged him to tliis affair single-handed, when he might 
have had a considerable reinforcement." 

Not fully comprehending the circumstances, nor aware 
of the greater blame that attached to Major Brown, General 

* Autograph Letter, Oct. 19, 1775. 

f Autoprraph Letter. 

\ Mr. James Livingston, wlio hod for some time resided near Chambloe, 
was a favorite among the Canadians in that parish. IIo was then en- 
camped with quite a large number of them, at Point Olina. not far from Fort 
Chamblee. In his letter ho said : " Mr. Allen should never have attempted 
to attack the town, without my knowledge, or acquainting me of his design, 
as I had it in ray power to furnish him a number of men." 



1775.] MONTGOMERY'S DIFFICULTIES. 425 

Schuyler, wlio clearly foresaw tlie evil eiiects of Allen's 
expedition, upon the Canadians, wrote to the Continental 
Congress, saying — " I am apprehensive of disagreeable con- 
sequences arising from Mr. Allen's imprudence. I al- 
ways dreaded his impatience of subordination, and it was 
not until after a solemn promise made me, in the presence 
of several officers, that he would demean himself properly, 
that I would permit him to attend the army. Nor would 
I have consented then, had not liis solicitations been 
bached by several officers." 

Three weeks afterward, Washington said in a letter to 
Schuyler : " Colonel Allen's misfortune will, I hope, teach 
a lesson of prudence and subordination to others, who may 
be too ambitious to outshine their general officers, and re- 
gardless of order and duty, rush into enterprises which have 
unfavorable effects upon the public, and are destructive to 
themselves." But the lesson was not heeded. 

October was wearing away, and the inclement season 
was fast approaching, and yet the successful termination of 
the siege of St. John's appeared as remote as when iirst 
begun. Very little had been accomplished. Montgomery 
was surrounded by a host of difficulties." He had no officers 
of military experience and jjroper military spirit, to whom 
he might turn in his perplexity for sound advice ; and 
while he was thus left to rely wholly upon his own judg- 
ment, he Avas continually annoyed and liis plans thwarted 
by the interference of those whose ability and position gave 
them no right to counsel or decide. 

The garrison appeared to be too well supplied with pro- 
visions to allow a hope on the part of Montgomery that 
they might be conquered by starvation. The ground on 
which he was encami)ed was low and very wet, for the 
autumn rains had begun, and the troops were suffering 



426 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [^t. 42. 

severely from sickness. General discontent prevailed, and 
the Canadians who had joined the Americans, or received 
them as fiiends, became very uneasy at the prospect of 
failure, notwithstanding the general assured them that if 
jiis ai'my should be compelled to retire without a victory, 
he would take care of all those who dared not remain in 
the country. 

The discontent in the army culminated in open oppo- 
sition to the general, when he proposed to change the 
position of the camp to higher and dryer ground, and to 
plant a battery within four hundred yards of the north 
side of the fort. He was jireparing for this movement, 
when Major Brown informed him that unless attention 
was immediately directed to the east side of the river, from 
which the troops thought they could more effectually dam- 
age the enemy, and sooner win a victory, and give them 
the privilege of returning home, a meeting would be called 
to devise measures in accordance with their views. Not- 
withstanding he Avas used to insubordination, Montgomery 
was astonished at this information. '' I did not consider," 
he said, in a letter to Schuyler, " I was at the head of 
troops, who carry the spirit of freedom into the field, and 

think for themselves I can not help observing 

to how little purpose I am here. Were I not afraid the 
example would be too generally followed, and that the 
j[)ublic service might suffer, I would not stay an hour at 
the head of troops whose operations I can not direct."* 

Notwithstanding his patience was tried to the utmost, 
Montgomery's sense of obligation to his adopted country, 
at that critical moment, overcame his disgust. He yielded 
so far as to call a council of Avar. " Upon considering the 
fatal consequences which might flow from the want of sub- 
* Autograph Letter, Oct. 13, 1775. 



1775.] C II A il A C T E R OF THE A R M Y . 427 

ordination and discipline should this ill-humor continue," 

he wrote to Schuyler ; '' my unslahle auvhority over troops 

of different colonies, the insufficiency of the military law 

and my own want of powers to enforce it, weak as it is, I 

thought it expedient to call tlie field officers together." 

The council was held, they decided against Montgomery's 

plan, and he was compelled to acquiesce, not, however, 

without unburdening his mind freely to Schuyler, who was 

suffeiing annoyances of every kind at Ticonderoga, arising 

from similar causes. 

" The Now England troops," he wrote, " are the worst stuff imagina- 
ble, for soldiers. They are home-sick ; their regiments have melted away, 
and yet not a man dead of any distemper. There is such an equality 
among them, tiiat the officers have no authority, and there are very few 
among them in Avhose spirit I have confidence. The privates are all 
generals but not soldiers ; and so jealous, that it is impossible, though a 
man i-isk his pei'son, to escape the imputation of jealousy."* 

Such feelings and such, imputations, as we shall have 
occasion to observe, were afterwards freely bestowed upon 
Schuyler. 

Of the first regiment of New Yorkers (McDougall's) 
Montgomery gave a still worse account, and laid before 
Schuyler instances of great unworthincss both in the ofHcers 
and men. Of the latter he particularly complained, and re- 
gretted much that McDougall had not yet joined the army. 

"I think it will be much aid to the service to give Ritzema a regi- 
ment," he wrote to Schuyler. " He has the talent for making a regi- 
ment as much as any man I have known. Out of the sweepings of 
New York streets, he has made something more like regular troops, 
than I have seen in the Continental service. Should not McDougall 
resign ? We can't afford sinecures. Much have I missed him, as you 
will easily judge, when you consider our talents in this part of the 
world."t 

* Autograph letter, October 31. 1775. In the same letter speaking of 
appointment.^ and elianges that he had mado in the army, he said—" Dhnou's 
brigade-majorship I bestowed on Weisenfols, a man of exceeding good char- 
acter, and more acquainted with the service than most of us." f Ibid. 



428 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [^T. 42. 

To his fatlier-in-law, Robert Livingston, Montgomery 
wrote : 

" The difficulties I have labored under from want of discipline in the 
troops (being all generals and few soldiers), want of provisions, am- 
munition, and men, have made me most heartily sick of this business; 
and I do think that no consideration can ever induce me again to step 
out of the path of i)rivate life. As a volunteer, I shall ever be ready 
when necessity requires, to take my part of the burden."* In deep 
bitterness of spirit he again wrote — " The ]\Iaster of Hindostan could 
not recompense me for this summer's work. I have envied every 
wounded man who has had so good an apology for retiring from a 
scene where no credit can be obtained. fortunate husbandmen j 
would I were at my plow again!" 

As, from time to time, Montgomery unbosomed him- 
self to Schuyler, that officer responded with sympathetic 
feeling, caused by his daily experience of the effects of 
wrong-doing. " Such scenes of rascality," he wrote, "are 
daily opening to me, as will surprise you to learn. But 
you must not be troubled by any from hence, having doubt- 
less enough where you are to try your temper. The dif- 
ficulties you labor under are extremely distressing to me, 
but patience and perseverance, my friend, I hope will carry 
vou through." 

It is an unpleasant duty to report these complaints 
concerning the troops who were engaged in the important 
campaign against Canada, in the autumn of 1775. That 
they were just, impartial history, enlightened by facts, fully 
concedes. Washington suffered more severely from similar 
causes, while in command of the army engaged in the 
siege of Boston at that time. His letters to the Conti- 
nental Congress and to others, are full of complaints of a 
similar character to those uttered by Schuyler and Mont- 
gomery. Those we have already recorded, and shall here- 
after record, arc not given in a caviling or narrow spirit, 
* Autograph letter, October 20, 1775. 



1775.] GLEAMS OF HOPE, 429 

with a view to disparage any man or body of men, but as 
unquestioned facts, necessary to be used as rebutting testi- 
mony in vindication of General Schuyler's character- from 
foul aspersions at that time, and the ungenerous attacks 
of partisan writers at the present day. 

Surely no American can ask for better evidence in the 
case, than the word of that early martyr to Liberty in 
America, Kichard Montgomery. He and Schuyler — a 
noble pair of brothers — at the sacritice of eveiy comfort 
to be derived from exalted social position, wealth, and 
happy domestic relations (and one of them suffering from 
most distressing illness), devoted their talents, energies, 
influence, fortune and health, to the cause of their country 
in a most critical hour, with beautiful disinterestedness ; 
honored then and now by the wise and good ; loved by all 
who could appreciate genius, genuine patriotism, and the 
value of generous sacrifices ; and regarded by the infant 
nation, then in its first struggles for independent existence, 
as the conservators of their most precious interests at that 
moment. '' The more I reflect on your expedition," Wash- 
ington wrote to Schuyler, " the greater is my concern lest 
it should sink under insuperable difficulties. I look upon 
the interests and salvation of our bleeding country, in a 
great degree, as depending upon your success." 

Amidst the gloom that gathered around the northern 
expedition as the season advanced, there were occasional 
gleams of hope. At one time there seemed a prospect of 
a speedy closing of the campaign by peaceful arrangements, 
propositions for which were made to Montgomery through 
the Caughnawagas, by " the formidable Le Corne St. 
Luc" and other principal inhabitants of Montreal. A 
conference at Laprairie was proposed and held, the repub- 
licans being represented by Majors Livingston, Brown, and 



430 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [/Et. 42. 

Macphcrson, the latter Schuyler's accomplished aid-de- 
cani]), and now the favorite in Montgomery's military 
family. The general doubted Le Corne's sincerity, and 
was cautiuus. Ho committed to him a letter to Sir Guy 
Carleton, and bade his commissioners to be exceedingly 
circumspect in their negotiations. The conference, as 
Montgomery feared it would be, was a failure. " It has 
ended in smohe," he Avrote to Schuyler. " St. Luke made 
the Indian deliver my letter to Mr. Carleton, who had it 
burned without reading it. The Indian told the Governor 
very honestly that he was sent to me by St. Luke and 
others. The Indians at Caughnawaga attended at La- 
prairie, according to appointment, and are much displeased 
at the tricks put upon them by these gentlemen. They 
seemed to think St. Luke was discovered in his plan, and 
dared not venture to carry it through. 1 hope we shall 
have more powder !" He had just written, " Your dili- 
gence and foresight have saved us from the difficulty that 
threatened us. We are no longer afraid of starving ;" 
and now he added, " Your residence at Ticonderoga has 
probably enabled us to keep our ground. How much do 
the public owe you for your attention and authority."* 

A victory now cheered the commanders and their 
troops. After Allen's raid, Carleton felt a great anxiety 
to relieve St. John's, and succeeded in assembling about 
nine hundred Canadians at Montreal. But mutual dis- 
trust was such a strong element of dissolution, that it was 
diihcult to keep them together. 

It was well-known that the inhabitants south of the St. 
Lawrence, generally favored the Americans ; and the Cana- 
dians who joined Carleton, timid and dispirited, deserted 
him by scores, until few were left. He could not depend 

* Autograph letter, October 9, 1775. 



If 75.] VICTORY AT CHAMBLEE. ' 431 

upon ihe Indians. Indeed, he probably did not wish to, 
for his nature revolted at the idea of letting such bloody 
savages loose upon the colonists. 

With a foolish confidence that the fort at Chamblee 
could not be reached by the invaders, while St. John's held 
out, Carleton had neglected to arm it. Only a feeble gar- 
rison was there, and they had been kept in a state of alarm 
by Livingston. These facts were communicated to Mont- 
gomery, and he directed Livingston, with the assistance of 
Major Brown and Colonel Bedel, to make a night attack 
upon the fort. The inhabitants of the parish of Chamblee^ 
three hundred strong, cheerfully ranged themselves under 
the banner of Major Livingston for the pur]iose, and these 
were joined by about fifty from Montgomery's camp, under 
Brown and Bedel. The plan of attack was arranged by 
the Canadians, who were acquainted with the place. 
Lender the cover of an intensely dark night, some cannon 
were conveyed by them from the camp, on batteaux, past 
the fort at St. John's to the head of the Chamblee rapids, 
Avhere they were landed, mounted on carriages, and dragged 
to the place of attack. The garrison, under Major Stoj)- 
ford, a well-educated and polished gentleman, sur])rised 
and ovcri^owered, made a feeble and brief resistance, and 
surrendered.* 

This victory occurred on the 18th of October, and was 
a most important event to the beseigers of St. John's, 
whose ammimition was almost exhausted. Among the 
articles that fell into the hands of the republicans were 
six tons of gunpowder, between five and six th msand 
musket cartridges, five hundred hand-grenades, three hun- 
dred swivel shot, and a large quantity of provisions and 

* The inhabitiiiits of the srarrison, stirrendcred by the capit/alation, were 
ten officers, seventy-eight private soldiens, thirty women, and lifly-ono chil- 
dren. The prisoners were sent to Connecticut. 



432 ' PHILIP SCHUYLER. [yEr. 42. 

stores. As a tropliy, ilv^ Americans secured the colors of 
the 7th reghncnt of British regulars, which Montgomery 
sent to General Schuyler, at Ticonderoga. This, the first 
military trophy of the kind captured by the repuhlicans, 
was sent by Scliuyicr to the Continental Congress at Phil- 
adelphia, and for a while, graced the walls of the residence 
of John Plancock, the ]3resident of that body.* 

* Christopher Marshall, of Philadelphia, in his Diar^^, mado the following 
record : 

Nov. 3, 1775. Account just brought by express, of the surrender of Fort 
Chamblee to Major Brown, on the 14th [18th], of October, in which was a 
great quantity of amunitiou, provisions, and warlike stores, with the colors 
of the Seventh Regiment, or Royal Seotcli FusUeers, which were brought to 
the Congress. . . . 

Nov. 6. Near five, son Benjamin accompanied me to Colonel Hancock's 
lodgings, in order to see the ensigns or colors taken at Fort Chamblee, &c. 



CHAPTER XXV. 

The easy reduction of Chamblee gave Montgomery as- 
surances of success ; and liaving thereby secured an ample 
provision of powder, he prepared to prosecute tlie seige of 
St. John's with greater vigor. His troops were inspirited, 
a better feeling prevailed among them, and he had the 
most satisfactory declarations that the Caughnawaga Indi- 
ans would remain strictly neutral. He had succeeded in 
sinking the enemy's armed schooner and possessing him- 
self of every avenue to the country from the fort ; and he 
at once proceeded to the erection of a battery within two 
hundi'cd and fifty yards of the enemy's strongest works, 
upon whicli he mounted four heavy guns and six mortars. 
He also erected a block-house on the opposite side of tjie 
river, and there mounted one gun and two mortars, and 
then commenced the assault with great earnestness. The 
gallant Major Preston, who commanded the fort, held out 
manfully, for he was in daily expectation of relief from 
Governor Carleton. . 

At this time General Schuyler had some uuplensaut 
experiences in connection with General Wooster and his 
troops, who had arrived at Ticonderoga. He had received 
assurances from time to time that Wooster was prepared 
to act as independently as possible, and to be governed by 
the regulations of the Continental Ccmgress and the man- 
dates of the commander-in-(;liief of the army of the North, 



434 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [^T. 42. 

no further than was absolutely necessary to comply with 
the strict letter of his obligations. He also heard rumors 
that Wooster was provided with ample provisions for his 
troops, independent of the Continental commissariat ; that 
he regarded his commission as major-general in the Con- 
necticut service as giving him rank superior to that of brig- 
adier-general in the Continental service ; and that he 
would claim to outrank Montgomery. 

Schuyler foresaw in this disposition much trouble for 
himself and great danger to the exi)editiou, and desired to 
avoid it if possible. He had, from the beginning, been 
much annoyed by letters from Wooster, who, natimxlly 
presuming upon his age and past services, made sugges- 
tions concerning military operations at the North, that at 
times were quite censorious in tone. Schuyler was not a 
man to receive such letters with complacency, and at 
length, being irritated by Wooster's impracticable sugges- 
tions too much for further forbearance, he wrote a spicy 
letter to the veteran that made him more sparing of his 
advice about matters of which he knew very little. 

" You speak," wrote Schuyler, " with as much ease of marching 
into Canada as if there were no greater obstacles in getting there than 
marching from Greenwich to New York. Taking possession of Mon- 
treal and Quebec is more easily said than done, for as our troops have 
not yet learnt to swim across a lake of an hundred miles extent, we who 
are upon the spot find some difiSiculty to ' march directly into Canada, 
and take possession of Montreal and Quebec !' The building of boats 
when not one material was on the spot ; when even the saw- mills were 
to be erected or repaired to cut the plank,- when afler the 18th of July, 
on which I arrived here [Ticonderoga], I had to send down the coun- 
try for carpi nters, and to bring up every individual article for the very 
existence of the troops, was found a matter that required a little more 
time than you seem to be aware of, altliough I flatter myself that as 
much has been done since my arrival as could have been completed by 
any man in my situation."* 

* Schuyler's MS. Orderly Book, August 14, 1775. 



1775.J TROUBLE EXPECTED. 435 

When, a month later, the Continental Congress di- 
rected Wooster to proceed to Albanj^ with his troops, in 
order to join the expedition against Canada, and Thomas 
Lynch, a delegate in Congress, wrote on the same day, 
" There will arise a difficulty (and God knows you need 
no additional ones) about the old Connecticut general," 
Schuyler felt a strong desire not to risk the interests of 
his expedition by the collisions of authority that might 
occur. Tender of his brother officer's reputation, he was 
unwilling to lay before the Congress his real reasons for 
not desiring the presence of AVooster and his troops, and 
he simply remarked, as if incidentally, in a letter to that 
body, on the 28th of September : 

" I do not thiak I shall have occasion for General Wooster's regi- 
ment, as I only wait for batteaux to send on five hundred New York- 
ers that I now have here, and which I suppose will soon embark, a3 
the wind is now favorable for craft to come from St. John's, and which 
I expect with impatience."* 

But the Congress was already aware of the assump- 
tions of Wooster, and the independent feeling, of his 
troops ; and on the receipt of Schuyler's letter they wrote 
to the Connecticut general informing him that it was 
thought his services would not be needed in the North, 
and ordering him to march with his troops " to the batter- 
ies erecting on the Highlands, on the North River," there 
to leave as many of them as the officer in charge of the 
works might desire, and to proceed with the rest to New 
York, and remain there until further orders from the Con- 
gress. They added : 

" But in case you should have any orders from Grcneral 
Schuyler previous to the receipt of this, to join the army 
under his command, or in any way to be aiding to his ex- 

* Schuyler's Letter Books. 



436 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [^t. 42. 

pedition, you are wholly to conform yourself to his direc- 
tions, the above orders of Congress notwithstanding.''* 

Lono" before this order was issued Wooster and his 
troops had made their way northward ; and the day before 
its date, they had -left Fort George at the head of Lake 
Geoi'ge, and arrived at Ticonderoga, where the veteran was 
courteously received by Schuyler, But the latter had re- 
solved that Wooster should not proceed any further, be- 
cause information which had just been communicated to 
him by Gunning Bedford, the deputy muster-master-gen- 
eral, then at Fort George, made him fearful that on his 
arrival at the camp the Connecticut general would assume 
rank and authority superior to Montgomery, and cause 
disturbances that would be fatal to the exjpedition. 

" Suffer me to condole with you," wrote Beclfqj-d, one of the most 
active, truthful, and reliable men in the army — " suDfer me to condole 
with you at the approach of troubles I see ready to be heaped upon 
you. General Wooster and his regiment will be with you in a few 
days. They are making great preparations, as if all the execution of 
the army was to be done by them alone. He brings provisions of his 
own, they tell me, to serve his regiment for the campaign. They will 
not touch Continental stores, nor eat Continental provisions! They 
boast of having nothing to do with the Continent. Indeed, to me they 
appear rather to come with a determination to abuse the Continental 
troops and their commanders, and to make the most profit by the cam- 
paign they can, than to serve the cause. 

" Officers and all seem to be concerned in sutling ; but your calling 
some of them to account at Ticonderoga has frightened them from carry- 
ing their stores across, at least under appearance of tlieir sutling. 
General Wooster has bought up the stores of Majors Lockwood and 
Colt, the former of whom is secretary to the General, and the latter, 
commissary to tlie regiment ! So that he means to carry them down 
as necessary stores for his regiment ! He told me himself he had a large 
quantity of pork he had brought with him, with molasses, sugar, peas, 
rice, chocolate, and soap enough, to last his troops ; and they would not 
go forward without them, nor indeed till thej' saw them go before. The 
general told Dr. Stringer that he was Major General of the Connecticut 
forces, and that no man on this side Connecticut had a right to dis- 
charge one of his soldiers, but liimsclf. 

* October 19th, 1775. 



1775.] THE CONNECTICUT TROOTS, 437 

" Mr. Col)b, tlie commis.^ary here, is n Connecticut man (hut -n-ho 
despises them thorou^-h'.y in his heart), and was let into his counsels. He 
was present when General Wooster was about calling a court-martial. 
He had not onicers enough ol' his own to i'onn it, and how to get 
others he did not know, without signing himscU' brigac^er-gencral. He 
mentioned the difficulty to his officers, ' Whj^,' one of them replied, 
'you have two strings to your bow ;' another, ' take care jj'ou don't pull 
on the weakest ;' and a third, ' you may pull on both, on occasion.' 
Cobb says he believes he signed brigadier-general, but would not be 
certain ; however, it might be found out by getting the orders. 

" So I foresee the difficulties you will be involved in by the jealousy 
Wooster's regiment must create among the other troop.s, when they see 
them so much better provided with everything than they are or can be, 
and more especially, should Wooster oppose your supei'ior command 
over the Connecticut forces. It is almost incredible, but their conduct 
is really astonishing. 1 am veiy apprehensive lest they may more dis- 
serve the cause, than if they had not come at all. 

" As the most virtuous character is never secure from the envious, 
malignant tongue of slander, so the disaffected to jou, in your army, 
have dehghted yom- enemies by poisoning your fame therewith. They 
would wish the contagion to spread, but their tools are too insignificant, 
and your upright conduct must ever check its progress; and I assure 
you, dear sir, I i'eel particularly happy in having it in my power to do 
your character that justice it really merits."* 

Walter Livingston, the deputy coramisscaiy-gcneral, 
writing from Albany at about the same time, confirmed 
Bedford's statement of the independent provision made by 
Wooster for his troops. "The general himself told me," 
he wrote, " that he had twenty day's provisions with him, 
and that he had ordered his own commissary to furnish 
him from time to time, and that he would not trouble me 
on that score. Provisions have arrived for him since he left 

this." 

These accounts confirmed Schuyler's worst anticipations 

of difficulty with Wooster. And the conduct of some of 

his troops who j^rcceded him a few days, made him resolve 

not to allow Wooster to join Montgomery. They evinced 

* Autograph Letter, Oct. 15, 1775. 



438 PHILIP SCHUYLER. • [^T. 42. 

a disposition to recognize no authority except that of their 
own commander. 

" Two hundred and fifty-three of G-eneral Wooster's regiment came 
across Lake George on Sunday," wrote Schuyler to the Continental 
Congress on the 18lh of October, " but the general is not yet arrived, 
and they do not choose to move until he does. Do not choose to move ! 
Strange language in an army ; but the irresistible force of necessity- 
obliges me to put up with it. This morning I gave an order to Lieu- 
tenant-Colonel "Ward, to send a subaltern, a sergeant, corporal, and 
twenty privates, in two batteaux, to carry powder, artillery, stores, and 
men. The colonel, who is a good man, called upon me to know if he 
would not be blamed by General "VVooster for obeying my orders. I 
begged him to send the men, and urged the necessity. The men, I 
believe will condescend to go. I could give many instances of a simi- 
lar nature, but General Montgomery has most justly and emphatically- 
given the reasons : ' Troops who carry the spirit of freedom into the 
field, and think for themselves, will not bear either subordination or 
discipline.'"* 

Schuyler, as we have observed, received XVooster courte- 
ously. He was agreeably disappointed in his apparent dis- 
position. He Ibund him courteous, conciliatory, yielding, 
and self-sacrificing. " My intentions," he wrote to the 
Continental Congress, on the 18th, " were to have him re- 
main at this post, but assuring me that his regiment would 
not move without him, and that although he thought hard 
of being superseded,f yet he would most readily put him- 
self under the command of General Montgomery ; that 
his only views were the public service, and that no ob- 
structions of any kind would be given by him ; this sj^ir- 

■* Schuyler's MS. Letter Books. 

f When, in June, 1775, the Continontal Congress made their appoint- 
ments of general officers for the army, "Wooster was major-general and cora- 
mandor-in-chicf of the Connecticut troops. He was raised only to the rank 
of brigjadier in the Continental service, while Israel Putnam, his inferior in 
rank in the Colonial service, was promoted to major-general. He felt the 
slight keenly, yet, with the spirit of true patriotism, he consented to serve in 
the subordinate capacity, and took the field among the earliest of the Conti- 
Dental officers. 



1 7 15.] ' A QUESTION SETTLED. 439 

ited and sonsiblo declaration I receiv^ed with inexpressible 
satisfaction, and he moves to-morrow with the first divi- 
sion of his regiment."* 

On the following morning Schuyler received official 
notice that Wooster had held a genoi-al court-martial at 
Fort George (hinted ;it in Bedford's letter of tlio 15th) 
without apprising him of the fact. lie could not, in 
justice to his position, and the good of the service, over- 
look the indignity ; and he felt specially aggrieved that 
Wooster had not, by either a written or oral communica- 
tion, mentioned the subject to him. He naturally re- 
garded Wooster's professions as insincere, and he imme- 
diately addressed to him the following letter : 

" The Continental Congress having taken the first six regiments 
raised this year, in the Colony of Connecticut (of which yours is one), 
into the pay and service of the associated colonies, at the earnest re- 
quest of the honorable delegates representing the colony of Connecticut, 
and you having, in a variety of instances, obeyed the orders of Con- 
gress, who have conferred on you the rank of brigadier-general in the 
army of the associated colonies, I was taught to believe that you con- 
sidered yourself as such, both from what I have above observed, and 
from your declarations to me yesterday. But I am just noAV informed 
that you have called a general court-martial at Fort George, on your 
way up here ; a conduct which I can not account for, unless you con- 
sider yourself my superior, and that can not be in virtue of your ap- 
pointment by Congress, by which you are a younger brigadier-general 
than Mr. Montgomery ; and unless you consider yourself as such, I 
can not, consistently with the duty I owe the public, permit you to join 
that part of the army now under Brigadier-G-eneral Montgomery's com- 
mand, lest a confusion and disagreement should arise that might prove 
fatal to our operations in Canada. You will, therefore, Sir, please to 
give me your explicit answer to this question : Whether you consider 
yourself and your regiment in the service of the associated colonies, and 
yourself a younger brigadier-general than Mi-. Montgomery or not? 
that no misapprehensions or misrepresentations may hereafter arise."t 

* Schuyler's MS. Letter Eooks. f Schuyler's MS. Letter Books, 



440 PHILIP SCHUYLER. ' [JEt. 42. 

To this letter General Wooster immediately replied, 
as follows : 

" In auswer to your favor of this day, give me leave to acquaint you 
that, immediately upon ray receiving the Continental articles of war I 
gave them out to the different captains and commanders of companies 
in my regiment, but they universally declined signing them ; of conse- 
quence in the discipline of the troops imder my command I Avas obliged 
to continue in the use of the law martial of Connecticut, under which 
they were raised, which I certainly had a right to do, by virtue of my 
commission from that colony. Upon the same principle I ordered a * 
general court-martial at Fort George, which, whether right or not, was 
never designed in the least to contradict or counteract your authority 
as commander-in-chief of the troops within this department. 

" With regard to the other question, my appointment in the Con- 
tinental army, you ate sensible, could not be very agreeable to me, 
notwithstanding which, I never should have continued in the service, 
had I not determined to observe the rules of the army. No, Sir I I have 
the cause of my country too much at heart to attempt to make any 
difficulty or uneasiness in the army, upon whom the success of an en- 
terprise of almost infinite benefit to the country is now depending. I 
shall consider my rank in the army what my commision from the Con- 
tinental Congress makes it, and shall not attempt to dispute the com - ■ 
mand with General Montgomery at St. John's. As to my regiment, I 
consider them as what tliey really are, according to the tenor of their 
enlistments and compact with the colony of Connecticut by whom they 
were raised, and now acting in conjunction with the troops of the other 
colonies in the service and for the defense of the associated colonies in 
general. You may depend. Sir, that I shall exert myself as much as 
possible to promote the strictest union and harmony among both officers 
and soldiers in the army, and use every means- in my power to give 
success to the expedition."* 

This letter, and the following official notice of the ac- 
tion of the General Assembly of Connecticut, which both 
Schuyler and Wooster received at about that time, were 
satisfactory. Complaints had been made to Governor 
Trumbull, from time to time, of the insubordination of 
the Connecticut troops ; and finally, on the second Thurs- 
day of October the Assembly took action, as follows : 

* Autograph Letter, October 19, 1775. 



1775] A SHARP L E T T E 11 . 441 

" This Assembly being informed tliat certain questions and disputes 
have arisen among tlie troops lately raiscil by this colony, and sent 
into the colony of New York, and sneh as are now employed against 
the ministerial forces in Canada, Avhicli disputes, unless prevented, may 
be attended with unhap[)y consequences : Theref)ro, it is hereby Re- 
solved., by (his Assembly, that all the troops which have been lately 
raised by this colony, for the special defense thereof, and sent into the 
colony of New York, and all such as are now employed against the 
ministerial troops in Canada, are, and shall be subject to the rules, 
orders, regulations, and discipline of the Congress of the twelve united 
colonies, during the time of their enlistment.''* 

General Wooster sailed with his troops for St. John's, 
on the 21st of October, and arrived at the camp on the 
morning of the 23d. The soldiers departed with great re- 
luctance on account of the lateness of the season and the 
possibility of their not being able to return. They num- 
bered three hundred and thirty-live men, including the 
officers. 

On the day after Wooster left, Schuyler suffered a 
severe attack of rheumatism, and on the following day the 
fever returned with great violence. Mrs. Schuyler had 
been with him for a while, and when she left for home, on 
the 12th, he was so much better that he wrote to General 
Montgomery, saying, '• I am gaining strength so fast that 
I propose to join you as soon as I have sent on Wooster's 
corps, who are now at Fort George." 

He was now tortured by both disease and disappoint- 
ment, and while in that state of mind and body, he was 
informed, by some injudicious person, of remarks made 
by Wooster, at different times, since his arrival at Fort 
George, disparaging to the skill and bravery of both 
Schuyler and Montgomery. Under the lashes of keen 
iiTitation, he wrote to Wooster, as follows, on the 23d : 

* Schuyler's papers. 
19* 



442 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [^T. 42. 

" Siu : — Being well informed that yon have declared on your way to 
this place, tliac if you were at St. John's, you would inarch into the 
fort at the head of your regiment, and as it is just that you should have 
an opportunity of showing your prowess, and that of your regiment, T 
have desired General Montgomery to give you leave to make the at- 
tempt if you choose. I do not wish, however, that you should be too 
lavish of your men's lives, unless you have a prospect of gaining the 
fortress." 

Schuyler inclosed this in his letter to Montgomery, 
alluded to, saying, " You may seal and deliver, or destroy 
as you choose," Montgomery should have destroyed it, 
for he well knew that only under the influence of extra- 
ordinary irritation would Schuyler have written it. 
Wooster made no reply to it, but in a letter written to 
Schuyler some months afterward, he referred to it with 
indignation, as having been a false accusation. 

Montgomery, wearied and worn, was glad when the ar- 
rival of Wooster gave him a prospect of release. 

" I am exceedingly well pleased," he wrote to Schuyler, " to see 
Mr. Wooster here, both for the advantage of the service, and upon my 
own account, for I most earnestly request to be suffered to retire, 
should matters stand on such a footing this winter as to permit me to 
go off with honor. I have not talents nor temper for such a command. 
I am under the disagreeable necessity of acting eternally out of charac- 
ter — to wheedle, flatter, and he. I stand in a constrained attitude. I 
will bear with it for a short time, but I can not support it long. The 
Canadians, too, distress me by their clashing interests and private 
piques." * 

Montgomery and Wooster acted in concert, and upon 
the most friendly footing. Montgomery asked the veteran 
soldier to live with him, and he showed him every atten- 
tion in his power. Together they pressed the seige of St. 
John's with vigor. 

Carleton made great efforts to relieve the gamson at St. 
John's. He sent to Quebec for aid, and Colonel McLean, 

• Autograph letter, October 31, 1775. 



] T75.] THE BRITISH DEFEATED. 443 

a gallant Scotch officer, who had served the British King- 
in the famous rebellion in 1745, and was now at the head 
of three hundred Highlanders at Quebec, called Tkv lioyal 
Jligliland Emigrants, agreed to ascend the St. Lawrence 
to the mouth of the Sorel, march along its bank, and join 
Carleton at St. John's. With this assurance, Carleton vvith 
a motley force of one hundred regulars, several hundred 
Canadians from the northward of the St. Lawrence, and a 
few Indians, accompanied by Le Corne St. Luc, embarked 
in thirty-four batteaux, and attempted to land at Lon- 
gueuil, a mile and a half below the city. Colonel Seth 
Warner, with a detachment of three hundred Green Moun- 
tain Boys, and a part of the second (Van Schaick's) New 
York Regiment, was on the alert in the neighborhood, and 
lay in covert near the spot where Carleton was about to 
land. Warner allowed the batteaux to a})proach very near 
the shore, when he opened upon them a severe storm of 
grape-shot from a four pound cannon, and volleys of mus- 
Ivctry. The enemy were driven back in great confusion, and 
Carleton, utterly disconcerted, retired to Montreal, leaving 
behind him a few killed and wounded, and four prisoners. 
The latter were sent immediately to Montgomery's camp. 
McLean, meanwhile, had landed at the mouth of the 
Sorel, and had increased his force by pressing many Cana- 
dians into his service. With full expectation of success 
;i gainst a band of undisciplined rebels whom he affected 
ti) despise, he was marching toward St. John's when he 
was met by Majors Brown, Livingston, and Easton, 
flushed by their recent victory at Chamblee, and their little 
force strengthened by some Green Mountain Boys. McLean 
was driven back to his landing place, where his Canadian 
recruits by compulsion, deserted him. There intelligence 
of the rejMilse of Carleton met him. A panic seized his 



444 P H I I, I P SCHUYLER. [^Et. 42. 

troops, and before the republicans reached the mouth ot 
the Sorel, the gaOaut McLean and his toUowers had em- 
barlied, and Avcre on their way to Quebec. Brown and 
Livingston took post there, erected batteries, and prepared 
to oppose the passage of vessels up or down the St. Law- 
rence. 

Warner's prisoners arrived at Montgomery's camp 
toward the evening of the day on which they were cap- 
tured, and while the great guns of the assailants were play- 
ing briskly upon the British works. The cannonade was 
immediately silenced, and a flag with a letter, was sent in 
to Major Preston, by one of the captives, to inform him 
of the repulse of Carleton and to demand an instantaneous 
surrender of the fort. Major Preston affected to doubt the 
story of the prisoner, and asked for a delay of four days. 
The request was denied, and the demand was instantly re- 
newed. The garrison had then been on half allowance for 
some time. Menaced with starvation, and perceiving no 
hope of relief, the gallant Preston was compelled to yield. 
On Friday, the 3d of November, Montgomery wrote to 
Schuyler, saying : 

" I have die pleasure to acquaint you, the garrison surrendered 
last night. This morning we took possession. To-morrow I hope 
the prisoners will set off. Inclosed you have the capitulation, which 
I hope will meet with your approbation, and that of Congress. I have 
ventured to permit an officer or two to go to their families, which are 
in some distress at Montreal, on their parole. They can 't do us any 
harm, and there Avould have been a degree of inhumanity in refusing 
them. . . Several men of rauk in Canada are among the prisoners. 
I have permitted them to remain at Crown Point till the return of two 
gentlemen they sent to their friends for money, etc. They pleaded 
hard to return home, but they are too dangerous to let loose again. 
. . I am making the necessary preparations to press immediately to 
Montreal, by way of Laprairie, as the enemy have armed vessels in the 
Sorel."* 

* Autograph Letter. 



1775.] SURRENDER OF ST. JOHN'S. 445 

The siege had coniiiiiied fifty-five days, and Preston 
was honored by all for his gallant defense in the midst of 
every discouragement. When he with the other prisoners 
were about to depart for Connecticut (that great receptacle 
of captives during the earlier years of the war), under the 
charge of Captain Mott, General Schuyler wrote as follows 
to Governor Trumbull : 

" From Major Preston and the ofHcers of the 26th Eegiment, I have 
experienced the most pohte and Inendly attentJon when I was a stran- 
ger, a traveler in Ireland. A return of good ofRces is the duty of every 
honest man, and I therefore beg leave to reconnnend them to your 
Honor's notice, and would wish if there is any choice in. the quarters 
which you shall destine to them, that theirs were the best, which 1 
shall consider as a particular favor done me."* 

Honorable terms wxre granted to the garrison at St. 
John's. They marched out of the fort with the honors of 
war, and the troops grounded their arms on tlie plain near 
by. The ofiicers were allowed to retain their side-arms ; 
and the baggage of both officers and men was secm-ed io 
them. The generous Montgomery went still further — even 
beyond what, perhaps, courtesy or the usages of war, 
under the circumstances, required. He allowed to each of 
the privates a new suit of clothes from the captured stores. 
Of this the scantily clad (and some half-naked) repub- 
licans made complaint. The rigors of a Canadian wdnter 
w^ere about to set in, and they needed thick and am2)le 
clothing, while the captives Avere to be sent to a mildei 
climate. Both othcers and men murmured loudly, and 
finally they boldly demanded a reconsideration of the cap- 
itulation. But Montgomery refused even while the harsh 
sounds of mutinous discourse were ringing in his ears. 
" The officers of the first regiment of Yorkers and artillery 

* Schuyler's MS. Letter Books, Nov. 10, 1775. 



446 PHILIP S C II U Y L E Px . [.Et. 42. 

company," ho wrote to Schuyler, " were very near a mutiny 
the other day, because I would not stop the clothing of the 
garrison of St. John's. I would not have sullied my own 
reputation, nor disgraced the continental arms, by a breach 
of capitulation, for the universe. There was no driving it 
into their noddles that clothing was really the property of 
the soldier — that he had paid for it, and that every regi- 
ment (in this country especially), saved a year's clothing 
to have decent clothes to wear on particular occasions."* 

The garrison that surrendered to the republicans, con- 
sisted of five hundred regular troops and about one hundred 
Canadian volunteers, many of them of the rank of nohlesse, 
or gentry. Among the officers were Major (then Captain) 
Andr^, the unfortunate spy in after years. Also Captain 
Anbery and Lieutenant Austruther, who were exchanged, 
and again made prisoners with Burgoyne, in the autumn 
of 1777. Anbury published, in two volumes, an interest- 
ing account of his sojourn in America, while a prisoner 
the second time. 

The spoils of victory Avere seventeen brass ordnance, 
from two to twenty-four pounders ; two eight-inch how- 
itzers ; twenty-two iron cannon, from three to nine 
pounders ; a considerable quantity of shot and small 
shells ; eight hundred stand of arms, and a small quantity 
of naval stores. The ammunition and provisions were in- 
considerable, for the stock of each was nearly exhausted. 

The Congress voted thanks to both Montgomery and 
Wooster, for their services in securing the victory ; and 
the president of Congress, in his long letter to the former, 
fully approved of his course in the capitulation. 

" Nor are the liumanity and politeness witli which you have treated 
those in your power," he said, '' less illustrious instances of magnanimity 

* Autograph Letter, Nov. 13, 1775. 



17(5.] HUMANITY A S O L D I 10 R ' S ORNAMENT. 447 

than the valor by Avliich you reduced tliem to it. Tho Congress, utterly 
abhorrent from every species of cruelty towards prisoners, and deter- 
mined to adhere to this benevolent maxim till the conduct of their ene- 
mies renders a deviation from it indispensably necessary, will ever 
applaud their officers for beautifully blending the Christian with the 
conqueror, and never, in endeavoring to acquire the character of a hero, 
lose that of a man." 



CHAPTER XXVI. 

On the day when General Montgomery achieved his 
victory at St. John's, Colonel Benedict Arnold, who, with 
with a few troops, had passed the great wilderness of the 
Kennebec and Chaudiere, and achieved a more wonderful 
triumph, were gathering at the first of settlements that 
stretched from the forests to the St. Lawrence, preparatory 
to a march to the high hanks of that river, opposite 
Quebec. 

That expedition, which formed a part of the campaign 
against Canada, of which Schuyler held the chief com- 
mand, considered in all its features and circumstances, 
was one of the mt)st wonderful on record. 

We have already observed Arnold leaving Crown Point 
in a tow(.'ring passion, to lay complaints of ill-usage be- 
fore Washington at Cambridge. The conmiander-in-chief, 
as usual, considered the whole matter dispassionately. He 
appreciated the services of Arnold, and received him in a 
most friendly manner at head-quarters. His story, straight- 
forward and well corroborated, soon changed the tide of jjop- 
ular feeling that had been rising strongly against him. His 
exploits on Lake Champlain, so chivalric and useful, created 
the greatest enthusiasm, and he soon found himself borne 
upon a flood of popular sympathy, in which Washington 
himself was a participant. Adventurous, a good tactician 
and disciplinarian, and possessed of the faculty of inspiring 



177,).] EXPEDITION UNDER ARNOLD, 449 

his troops with his own enthiisiasin, Arnohl appeared to 
Washington as i)recisely the right man to lead a cooperat- 
ing expedition to Quebec hy way of the wilderness, which 
he had contempkted, and concerning which, as we have 
seen, he consulted General Schuyler. When his plans 
were matured, Washington, Avith his usual wise discrim- 
ination, gave the command of the expedition to Arnold, 
and commissioned him as colonel in the Continental army. 
Arnold, in past years, had carried on a trade in horses be- 
tween Quebec and the West Indies, and had often visited 
the Canadian capital in the pursuit of his vocation. Ho 
was familiar with the town and understood the i)eople, 
and Washington expected to see him successful. 

Arnold's ambition was now fulJy gratilied, and ho 
entered upon the duties of his office, in organizinii; the 
expedition, with the greatest zeal. Very soon eleven hun- 
dred men v^^ere enrolled for the perilous service, consisting 
of ten companies of New England infantry (part of them 
from General Greene's Rhode Island brigade), two rifle 
companies from Pennsylvania, and one from Virginia, and 
a number of volunteers. These formed a battalion. Roger 
Enos of Connecticut (whose courage was not sufficient to 
carry him through the wilderness), and the brave Christo- 
pher Green of Rhode Island, were Arnold's lieutenants. 
The majors were Meigs of Connecticut, and Bigelow of 
Yv^orcester, Mass. Morgan, afterward the fomous leader 
in the southern campaigns, with Heth, who behaved bravely 
at Germantown two years later, and Humphreys, led the 
Virginia riflemen. Hendricks commanded a Pennsylvania 
company. Thayer, who behaved so gallantly at Fort 
Mifflin, in the autumn of 1777, led a company of Rhode 
Islanders, and Dearborn another of the Massachusetts in- 
fantry. Among the volunteers was Aaron Burr, a way- 



450 P TT T L I P SCHUYLER, [JEt. 42. 

ward grandson of tlic renowned tlieologian, Jonathan Ed- 
wards, then a youtli of nineteen^ wlio arose from a sick 
bed on hearing of the expedition, joined it, and behaved 
nobly to the end. Samuel Spring of Massachusetts was 
the cha})lain. 

Arnold was invested with ample, and even extraordi- 
nary powers, yet these were subservient to very explicit 
instructions, prepared by Washington with great care. In 
these, Arnold was charged to push forward with all pos- 
sible expedition, and to endeavor to discover the real senti- 
ments of the Canadians toward the republican cause, par- 
ticularly as to the undertaking in which he was engaged. 
He was instructed not to prosecute the enterprise, if the 
Canadians should be decidedly opposed to it. He was 
furnished with a quantity of friendly addresses in the 
French language, which he was to distribute among the 
Canadians when he should emerge from the wilderness on 
the St. Lawrence slope. He was also instructed to en- 
force rigid disci})line and good order, that his trooi)S might 
not commit the least outrage upon the inhabitants, either 
in person or property ; to " check every idea, and crush, 
in its earliest stage, every attempt to plunder even those 
who were known to be enemies to the cause." He was 
directed to pay full value for every thing the Canadians 
should provide for him on his march ; by no means to 
press the people or their cattle into his service ; and not 
only to pay perfect respect to the religious feelings and 
observances of the country, but to do every thing in his 
power to protect and sujjport the free exercise of those 
observances on the part of the inhabitants. 

Acting upon the hint given him by the commanding- 
general of the Northern department, Washington added : 
" In case of a union with General Schuyler, or if he should 



177.5.] TROOPS IN THE WILDERNE8S. 451 

be in Canada upon your arrival there, you arc by no means 
to consider yourself as u])on a separate and independent 
command, but arc to put yourself under him, and follow 
bis instructions. Upon this occasion, and all others, I 
recommend most earnestly to avoid all contention about 
rank. In such a case, every post is honorable in which a 
man can serve his country." 

Lord Pitt, a yoimger son of the Earl of Chatham, and 
aid-de-camp to Sir Guy Carleton, it was supposed was 
still in Canada, and Washington instructed Arnold, that 
in the event of that young gentleman falling into his 
hands, he should treat him with the greatest consideration. 
" You can not err," he said, "in paying too much honor 
to the son of so illustrious a character, and so true a friend 
to the Americans." 

In his address to the Canadians, Washington, after 
exhorting them to espouse the cause of the colonists, said : 
" The cause of America, and of liberty, is the cause of 
every virtuous American citizen ; whatever may be his re- 
ligion or descent, the united colonies know no distinction 
but such as slavery, corruption, and arbitrary dominion 
may create. Come, then, ye generous citizens, range your- 
selves under the standard of general liberty, against which 
all the forces and artifices of tyranny will never be able to 
prevail." 

With ample appointments for the expedition, the 
troops sailed from Medford to Newburyport on the even- 
ing of the 13th of September, and on the morning of the 
20th, after a night of tempest — wind, lightning, and rain 
— they reached Gardiner, on the Kennebec, in safety, and 
in two hundred batteaux, already prepared for them, as- 
cended the river to Fort Western, at the present city of 
Augusta, then on the verge of the great wilderness. That 



452 r II I L I P SCHUYLER. [^T. 42, 

was the designated place of general rendezvous. Beyond 
it, toward Norridgewock Falls, only a log house appeared 
here and there, and above that cascade no white man's 
dwelling was known. An exploring party Avas immedi- 
ately dispatched toward the Dead River, a considerable 
tributary of the Kennebec, and another toward Lake Me- 
gantic or Chaudiere Pond, the head waters of the Chaudi- 
ere, each pursuing the paths of the moose-hunters, and 
directed by the maps of Colonel Montressor, who, fifteen 
years before, had come from Quebec, ascended the Chau- 
di(^re, crossed the His-hlands near the head waters of the 
Penobscot, passed through Moosehead Lake, and entered 
the east branch of the Kennebec. 

The whole detachment followed in four divisions, one 
day apart. Morgan and his riflemen formed the van ; 
Green and Bigelow, with their musketeers, followed next ; 
then Meigs, with four other companies. The rear was 
composed of three companies, under Enos. Arnold left 
Fort Western last, and at Norridgewock Falls overtook 
Morgan and his riflemen. 

At the Falls the greater fatigues of the journey com- 
menced. Before them lay an uninhabited and almost 
trackless wilderness, yet they were not wholly unprovided 
with guides, for Arnold procured an imperfect copy of 
Montressor's journal, and also a journal and plans of Samuel 
Goodwin, of Pownalborough, in Maine, who had been in 
that country as a surveyor for twenty-five years. 

Along the swift Kennebec the expedition moved, carry- 
ing j)rovisions, baggage, boats — every thing — around the 
rapids, up steep, rocky banks, through tangled woods, and 
across deep morasses, sometimes rowing, sometimes pole- 
ing, sometimes wading and dragging their batteau. On 



1775.] F A L S K MESSENGER. 453 

the tenth of October they reached the dividing ridge be- 
tween the Kennebec and Dead Kivers. 

Ah-eady the weak and timid had foltered, and sick- 
ness and desertion had reduced the battalion to about nine 
hundred and fifty effective men. Tliese were in fine spirits 
and full of enthusiasm. The lovely Indian summer had 
commenced, and the forests were arrayed in their robes of 
autumnal splendor. The future ajipeared encouraging, 
and on the 12th of October two subalterns wei-c sent for- 
ward with a party to explore and clear the portages. On 
the following day, Arnold dispatched a Canadian, named 
Jakins, to Sertigan, the nearest French settlement, to 
ascertain the political sentiments of the people. He also 
sent forward with Jakins two Indians, Sabatis and Eneas, 
each with a letter, one to General Schuyler and the other 
to friends in Quebec, announcing to the former his plan 
of cooiDeration, and asking information of the latter con- 
cerning the number of troops in the Canadian capital, 
•what ships were there, and what were the dispositions of 
the merchants. One of the Indians (Eneas) proved faith- 
less. He delivered Arnold's letter into the hands of the 
lieutenant-governor of the province, ■■•'•" and Schuyler never 
received the communication directed to him. 

The main body of the army were now on the Dead 
Kiver, a deep and sluggish stream, as its name imports. 
They followed it eighty miles, making seventeen portages 

* These letters brougiit the friends to whom they were addressed into 
trouble. One of them, John Dyer Mercier, a merchant, was arre-jted and 
imprisoned on suspicions of treason. A gentleman in Quebec, writing to a 
friend on the 9th of November, said, in relation to Mr. Mercier: '-On Satur- 
day, the 28th of October, while he was going into the Upper Town, he waa 
laid hold of by the Town Sergeant, and conducted to the main-guard, and 
there confined, and his papers were seized and examined merely by the order 
of the lieutenant-governor, without any crime or accusation alleged against 
him, and at day-break the next morning he was put on board the Hunter 



454 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [^t. 42. 

at falls, until they reached the timber-clogged ponds at its 
sources. Up to this time the salmon-trout had been 
caught in such abimdance that there had been no lack of 
food ; but now a scarcity began. They made their way 
through these ponds with the greatest difficulty, toward 
the great carrying place to the Chaudicre, which they 
reached on the 26th. There, in the neighborhood of Lake 
Megantic, is the summit of the water-shed between Canada 
and New England. 

The fatigue and privation suffered during this portion 
of the journey, which occupied ten or twelve days, were 
terrible. The records of them have no parallel in history. 
" The company," says a private soldier in his journal, 
" were ten miles wading knee deep, among alders the 
greatest part of the way, and came to a river which had 
overflowed the land. We stopped some time, not knowing 
what to do, and at last were obliged to wade through it, 
the ground giving way under us at every step. We got 
on a little knoll of land and went ten miles, where we were 
obliged to stay, night coming on ; and we wei'c all cold and 
wet. One man fainted in the water with cold and fatigue, 
but was helped along. We had to wade into the water 
and chop down trees, and fetch the wood out of the water, 
after dark, to make a fire to dry ourselves. However, at last 
we got a fire, and after eating a mouthful of fish, laid our- 
selves down to sleep around the fire, the water surround- 

sloop-of-war. This was very alarming to the citizens of Quebec, who there- 
upon had a meeting, and appointed three of their number to wait on the 
lieutenant-governor to know the cause of so remarkable a step. He made 
answer that he had sufficient reasons for what ho had done, which he would 
communicate when and to whom he should tiiink proper. But he soon 
thought better of it ; for the next morning ho called together the six captains of 
the British militia, and communicated to them one or more intercepted letters, 
directed to ]SIr. Mercier, of a nature that was sufficient to warrant his being se- 
cured for the safety of the town." — Ainerican Archives, Fourth Series, iil, 1419. 



1775.1 SUFTRRTNGS IN THE WILDERNESS. 455 

ing US close to our heads. If it had rained hard it would 
have overflowed the place we ^vere on."-"' 

While on this dreadful journey, intelligence came to 
Arnold that Lieutenant-Colonel Enos had deserted the ex- 
pedition, and with three companies had returned to Cam- 
bridge. By rare good f n'tune Enos escaped punishment, the 
friendly court-martial that tried him having found an excuse 
for his return because his provisions had given out. But 
the remainder of the battalion, notwithstanding this ma- 
terial diminution of their strength, pressed forward in the 
midst of privations, of Avhicli Enos and his troops had no 
conceptions. The winter was coming rapidly on. The 
mountains were covered with snow, and yet their course, 
for many a weary league, lay northward. Over those bleak 
Highlands they wandered, exposed days and nights to 
drenching rains, sometimes mixed with snow, their clothes 
torn and their flesh lacerated by shrubs and thorns ; some 
walking whole hours barefooted, and sleeping with no 
other covering but the wet branches of the evergreens. 
Worse than all, their provisions tailed, and dogs' meat 
became a luxury. Some of the poor sufferers carefully 
washed their moose-skin moccasins and boiled them, with 

* Senter's Joci;n"AL. — Judge Josepli Heniy, of Pennsylvania, was in this 
expedition, and wrote a narrative of it. He speaks of two women who had 
foUowed their husbands, and who exhibited the most remarkable fortitude and 
endurance in this portion of the march. " One was the wife of Sergeant 
Grier," says Henry, "a large, virtuous, and respectable woman." The other 
was the wife of a common soldier, named Warner. "Entering the ponds," 
says Henry, " and breaking the ice here and there witli the butts of our 
guns and feet, we were soon waist-deep in mud and water. As is generally 
the case with youths, it came to my mind that a better path might be found 
than that of the more elderly guide. Attempting this, the water in a trice 
cooling my arm-pits, made me gladly return in the file. Xow Mrs. Griev 
had got before me. My mind was humbled, yet astonished, at the exertions 
of this good woman. Her clothes were then waist high. She waded on 
before me, to firm ground. Not one, so long as she was known to us, dared 
to intimate a disrespectful idea of her." 



45G PHILir SCHUYLER. [^t. 42. 

the hope of procuring a little mucilage to appease the de- 
mands of consuming hunger. To such straits were some 
of Arnold's party reduced, after having hauled up tlieir 
boats, with baggage and provisions, one hundred and 
eighty miles, and carried them on their shoulders nearly 
forty miles. 

On the borders of Lake Megantic, the chief source of 
the Chaudicrc, Arnold and a large portion of the expedi- 
tion found Jakins, who brought back inielligence of the 
friendly disposition of the inhabitants in the Chaudiure 
Valley. Inspirited by this information, he prej^ared to 
descend the river immediately. It was a fearful voyage. 
The water rushed toward the St. Lawrence with rapid 
current, sometimes foaming over rough rocky bottoms, and 
sometimes leaping, in cascades, beautiful to the eye but 
perilous to the voyager. Boats were overturned, and am- 
nmnirion and precious stores were lost. Perils quite as 
formidable as those they had passed were again gathering 
around them, when the lowing of cattle fell upon their 
ears as sweetly as the most ravishing nuisic, for it assured 
them of life. Two Canadians, on horses, had come up 
from the settlement with five oxen. These were timely 
relief ; and the republicans, in their joy, fired a salute. In 
the course of a few days every fragment of the broken 
battalion that survived the horrors of the wilderness, em- 
erged from the forests, and gazed with delight upon the roofs 
of the dwellings and the spire of the parish church at Ser- 
tigan, a settlement twenty-five leagues from Quebec. There 
the troops rendezvoused and rested ; and from there Arnold 
sent young Burr with a verbal message to Montgomery, 
who, on the 29th of October, had written to him from St. 
John's. All the letters that Arnold had sent to Schuyler, 
while on his march, had miscarried — been intercepted or 



1775.J ARNOLD ON THE ST. LAWRENCE. 457 

betrayed into the hands of the enemy. But young Burr 
disguised as a priest, and speaking both French and Latin 
pretty well, passed through the country unsuspected, and 
conveyed all necessary information to Montgomery. Be- 
fore the youthful ambassador's arrival the general was a 
victor at Montreal. 

Montgomery had already been apprised, through inter- 
cepted letters, of Arnold's approach, and was very anxi- 
ously waiting for a dispatch from his own hand. It came 
on the 17th, a few days after Burr's arrival, accompanied 
by a letter for General Washington. Montgomery was 
charmed by the manners, intelligence, and enthusiasm of 
young Burr, and invited him to remain at head-quarters. 
He did so, and was with the general at Quebec, as his aide- 
de-camp. 

Arnold was joined at Sertigan by about forty Norridge- 
wock Indians, and, in the face of a severe snow storm, set 
out for Point Levi, opposite Quebec. The fertile valley 
of the Chaudi^re was filled with friendly inhabitants, and 
abundant provisions might be obtained. The troops were 
in excellent spirits, for they believed they would speedily 
share in the glory of taking possession of Quebec. They 
were perfectly orderly, and Arnold was enabled to carry 
out the most strict provisions of Washington's instruc- 
tions, in regulating the conduct of his troops toward the 
Canadians. His approach to Quebec was known two or 
three days before his appearance ; and when, on the 9ih, 
he reached Point Levi, the snow yet fiilling, and several 
inches deep, every boat had been removed from that side 
of the river or destroyed. Plere was the termination of the 
toils of travel. They had journeyed over three hundred 
miles, most of the way through a gloonay wilderness. For 
thirty-two days they did not meet a human being ; and 

20 



458 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [^t. 42. 

their preservation in the midst of fearful and multifarious 
dangers seemed like a miracle. 

Until within two days nobody at Quebec believed that 
the little band whom they had heard of as struggling with 
the storms in the wilderness, would ever reach the St. 
Lawrence. Cramahe, the lieutenant-governor, laughed at 
the idea of such an invasion ; and, when early in the 
morning of the 9th, the little army stood behind the vail 
of falling snow, upon the heights above Point Levi, they 
appeared like specters to the startled inhabitants of the 
capital. The drums immediately beat to arms, for some 
wdio had crossed the river to Point Levi with the intelli- 
gence, taking counsel of their fears, greatly magnified the 
number of the republicans. And by a mistake in a single 
word the alarm of the people was greatly increased, for the 
news spread that the mysterious army which had descended 
from the wilderness or had fallen from a cloud, were clad 
in sheet-iron ! Morgan's riflemen, with their linen frocks, 
had been first seen. " They are vetu en toile" (clothed in 
linen cloth), exclaimed the Canadian messengers of alarm. 
The last word was mistaken for tole (iron plate), and 
thus occurred the mistake that created a fearful panic in 
Quebec. 

While waiting for the rear of his troops to come up, 
Arnold employed Canadian carpenters in making ladders, 
and his men in collecting canoes, and on the 14tli he wrote 
to Montgomery, saying : ^ 

" The wind has l^een so lii<^h these throe nights that I have not 
been able to cross the river. I have nearly forty canoes ready, and, as 
the wind has moderated, I design crossing this evening. The Hunter 
(sloop) and Lizard (frigate), lie opposite to prevent us, but make no 
doubt I shall be able to avoid them. I tliis moment received tiie agree- 
able intelligence, via Sorel, that you are in possession of St. John's, and 
have invjsted Montreal. I can give no intelligence, save that the 



1775.] MONTREAL INVESTED. 459 

merchant ships are busy, day and night, in loading, and four have 
ah^eady sailed."* 

Here we will leave Arnold, while considering the posi- 
tion of Montgomery and his army, whom we left victors at 
St. John's. 

Inclement weather and insubordination among the 
troops retarded Montgomery's march upon Montreal, and 
he did not arrive before it until the 12th of November. 
Major Henry B. Livingston had been sent forward toward 
Caughnawaga, with one hundred men of Colonel James 
Clinton's regiment, to protect the friendly Indians, but 
found them under no aj)prehensions. 

" I sent for them," he says, " as soon as I came in town [Laprairie], 
to know whether they wanted us at their castle or not. The chiefs 
told me that General Montgomery had been imposed upon by some of 
their meaner people, who had been frightened at nothing — that they 
feared no invasion from Mr. Carjeton at all, and if he did attack them, 
they thought themselves able, without assistance from abroad, to de- 
feat him."t 

It was with much difficulty that Montgomery per- 
suaded many of the troops to advance with him. " I was 
obliged, at St. John's," he wrote to Schuyler, " to promise 
all such their dismission as choose it, to coax them to 
Montreal. Indeed, Wooster's regiment showed the great- 
est uneasiness.''^ Most of his troops finally agreed to ac- 
company him, and he moved toward Laprairie on the 
6th. § The inhabitants of Montreal, informed of this, be- 

* Livingston's MS. Journal. 

\ Autograph Letter, Nov. 14, 1775. X Autograph Letter, Nov. 1.^, 1775. 

§ Major Livingston made the following entry in his Diary, at Laprairie : 

" Nov. 6. — General Montgomery arrived in town at two o'clock, and at 
diflerent times of the day, the first of our battalion. 

" 7.— General Wooster and Colonel Watcrbury, with their regiments and 
pari of the fourth battalion, came in town this afternoon, and encamped in 
the fields about a quarter of a mile from town. 



460 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [^t. 42. 

came greatly alarmed, and on the 7th the merchants of 
that city held a council, and then waited upon Governor 
Carleton to ascertain his views concerning a defense of the 
town. Deeply chagrined because of the evident disloyalty 
of the French inhabitants, Carleton told them that he 
should quit the place in a day or two, and that they might 
take care of themselves. They instantly determined to 
apply to General Montgomery for protection, and for that 
purpose a deputation was appointed to meet him at La- 
prairie. This was prevented by Carleton, who had re- 
solved to force the inhabitants into resistance. But when 
the governor saw Montgomery approaching in force, he 
fled in alarm, with the garrison, on board a flotilla of ten 
or eleven small vessels lying in the river, with the inten- 
tion of escaping to Quebec. He took with him the powder 
and other important stores. Perceiving this movement, 
Montgomery dispatched Colonel Easton, with Continental 
troops, cannon, and armed gondolas, to the mouth of the 
Sorel, to intercept the flotilla in its passage down the 
river. At the same time he crossed the St. Lawrence, sat 
down before the town, and sent in the following letter, ad- 
dressed to those citizens who had been appointed by the 
merchants to negotiate with him : 

" 9. — Captain Lamb and his company came in with six field pieces (brass), 
talien from tlie enemy at St. John's. 

" 10. — Thirteen batteaux were conveyed from Cbamblee, almost all the 
way by land, to a stream of water two miles east of Laprairie, and from 
thence brought to the lauding by the town. 

" 11. — At nine this morning, tlie General, Colonel Waterbury's regiment, 
some of the first battalion, and a few of the fourth battalion, and General 
Wooster's regiment, in all about five hundred men, with six field pieces, 
crossed the river St. Lawrence, and landed on Isle St. Paul, directly opposite 
Laprairie, and one and a half miles from Montreal. As soon as Governor 
Carleton saw our people embark, he ordered all his regulars on board the 
vessels he had lying at Montreal, and fled down the river." — Livingston's MS. 
Journal. 



1775.] REPUBLICANS VICTORIOUS. 461 

Gentlemen : — My anxiety for the fate of Montreal induces me to re- 
quest that you 'will exert yourselves among the inhabitants to prevail 
on them to enter into such measures as will prevent the necessity of 
opening my batteries on the town. When I consider tlic dreadful con- 
sequences of a bombardment, the distress that must attend a fire (at 
this season especially), when it is too late to repair the damage which 
must ensue, how many innocent people must suffer, and that the firm 
friends of hberty must be involved in one common ruin with the wicked 
tools of despotism, my heart bleeds at the dire necessity which compels 
me to distress that unfortunate city. I conjure you, by all the ties of 
humanity, to take every possible step to soften the heart of the gover- 
nor; for he, if he be sincere in his professions to the people committed 
to his charge, must commiserate their condition. In vain will ho per- 
sist in a resistance, whicli can only be attended with misery to the in- 
habitants, and with lasting disgrace to his own humanity." 

To this he added, in a postscriijt : 

" I have just heard that it has been falsely and scandalously reported 
that our intentions are to plunder the inhabitants. I have only to ap- 
peal to your own observation, whether such a proceeding be consistent 
with our conduct since we have entered this province." 

The governor and the garrison had fled, and Mont- 
gomery encountered no resistance. He marched into the 
city cheered by many greetings, and won the esteem and 
aflfection of the inhabitants by his kindness, toleration, and 
humanity. He found there a great quantity of woolen 
goods with which he prepared his troops for the rigors of a 
Canadian winter, and at the same time shocked the Puri- 
tan prejudices of the New England soldiers by his courtesy 
to the functionaries of the Eoman Catholic Church— a 
proceeding which the highest policy as well as the best 
feelings of human nature sanctioned. 

" I have had," Montgomery wrote to Schuyler, "some conversation 
with Pere Flaquet, a Jesuit, at the head of the society here, and es- 
teemed a very sensible fellow. He complained of some little indignities 
shown their order, particularly in making part of their house the com- 
mon prison, by his majesty's governors. I promised redress, and hmted, 
at the same time, the great probability of that society enjoying their 



462 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [^t. 42. 

estates (notwithstanding Sir Jeffrey Amherst's pretensions) should this 
provinee accede to the general union. I hope this hint may be of serv- 
ice, the priests hitherto having done us all the mischief in their power in 
many parishes. They will not give the people absolution. However, I 
have shown all the respect in my power to religion, and have winked 
at the behavior in the priests for fear of giving malice a handle."* 

Montgomery also assured the inhabitants that the 
Continental Congress would be mindful of their political 
rights, and that as soon as he had effected the complete 
conquest of the province, by taking Quebec, he should re- 
turn and call a convention of the people. 

Contrary winds had detained Carleton's flotilla, and 
gave Easton an opportunity to well prepare for opposing 
him. He posted his troops so advantageously, with six 
cannon in battery, and two armed row-galleys in the river, 
that the enemy were easily kept at bay. 

Montgomery meanwhile prepared to attack them with 
field artillery, mounted in batteaux, but before he could 
effect that object Easton captured the little fleet. General 
Prescott, the commander of Montreal, and several officers, 
some members of the Canadian council, and one hundred 
and twenty private soldiers, with all the vessels and stores, 
were surrendered by cajntulation. But Carleton, disguised 
as a Canadian voyagciLr, and under cover of darkness, had 
escaped the previous night, in a boat rowed by himself 
and others, with mufiled oars, and soon reached Quebec in 
safety, to the great joy of the loyal inhabitants there, who 
had been trembling in the presence of Arnold. 

The spoils of this little victory were, quite a large 
quantity of provisions, three barrels of powder, four can- 
non, artillery ammunition, a quantity of small arms, balls, 
musket-cartridges, two hundred pairs of shoes, and some 

* Autograph letter, Nov. 19, 1775. 



1775.] M.O N T G O M E R y'S APPEAL. 463 

intrencliing tools. Among the vessels captured was the 
Gaspe, Colonel Allen's prison ship, which was placed 
under the command of Captain Cheeseman, of McDougall's 
regiment, who fell at Quebec a few weeks later. 

Mi)ntgomery now placed a garrison at iSt. John's, 
under C;iptaiu Marinas Willett ; another in the fort at 
Chambk'e ; gave Wooster the command at Montreal, and 
prepared to push forward to Quebec ; for he said, without 
that city, " Canada remains unconquered." " By inter- 
cepted letters," he wrote to Schuyler, " I am informed 
that the king's troops are exceedingly alarmed by the 
presence of Arnold, and expect to be besieged, which, 
by the blessing of God, they shall be, if the severe season 
holds off, and I can prevail on the troops to accompany 
me."* 

" The inhabitants," he wrote a hitle later, "are our friends on both 
sides of the river, to Quebec. Our expresses go without interruption, 
backward and forward. A young man who has got out of Quebec, 
informs me that the heutenant-goveruor, the chief justice, and several 
others, have put their baggage on board ship, and that no ship is per- 
mitted to sail. Tliis looks as if they despaired of making a defense."t 

Having formed his plans, Montgomery issued the fol- 
lowing proclamation, on the 15th of November, signed by 
his aid-de-carap, James Van Rensselaer : 

" The general embraces this happy occasion of making his acknowl- 
edgment to the troops for their patience and perseverance during the 
course of a fatiguing campaign. They merit tlie applause of their gralV- 
ful countrymen. He is now ready to fulfill the engagements of the 
pubHc. Passes, together with boats and provisions, shall be furnished 
upon application from the commanding officers of regiments, for sucli 
as choose to return home ; yet he entreats the troops not to lay him 
under the necessity of abandoning Canada ; of umloing in one day what 
has been the work of months ; of restoring to an enraged, and hitherto 
disappointed enemy, the means of carrying on a cruel war into ttievery 

c Autograph letter, Nov. 13, 1775. \ Autograph letter, Nov. 19, 1775. 



464 PHILIP SCHUYLER. - [iET. 42. 

bowels of theii' country. Impressed with a just sense of the spirit of 
the troops ; their attachment to the interests of the united colonies, and 
of tlieir regard to their own honor, he flatters himself that none will 
leave him at this critical juncture, but such whose afiairs or health ab- 
solutely require their return home. 

"He has still hope, notwithstanding the advanced season of the 
year, should he be seconded by the generous valor of the troops, hitherto 
highly favored l3y Providence, to reduce Quebec, in conjunction with 
the troops which have penetrated by the Kennebec River, and hereby 
deprive the ministerial array of all their footing in this important prov- 
ince. 

" Those who engage in this honorable cause shall be furnished com- 
pletely with every article of clothing requisite for the rigor of the 
climate — blanket-coats, coats, waistcoat, and breeches, one pair of stock- 
ings, two shirts, leggings, sacks, shoes, mittens, and a cap, at the Con- 
tinental charge, and one dollar bounty. The troops are only requested 
to engage to the 15th of April. They shall be discharged sooner if the 
expected reenforcement arrives before that time." 



CHAPTER XXVII. 

General Montgomery found a large proportion of 
the troops indisposed to comply with his invitation to ac- 
company him to Quebec ; and many precious days — days 
composed of those golden moments of opportunity that 
might have secured victory — passed by, while he was en- 
gaged in futile endeavors to persuade the New Englaniiers, 
whose terms of service had expired, to reiinlist. Even 
those who had yet a short time to serve became turbulent, 
and some absolutely refused to go another step forward. 
Home-sickness, a most natural malady under the circum- 
stances, took possession of whole companies ; and day after 
day they left the camp in groups, and made their way up 
Lake Champlain to Ticonderoga, to receive their discharge 
from General Schuyler. " I believe," wrote that officer to 
Montgomery, on the 18th of November, " that you have 
few^ of the New England troops left, as near three hundred 
have passed here within these few days, and so very impa- 
tient to get home that many have gone from here by land." 

To the Continental Congress Schuyler wrote, on the 
20th, saying: 

" Our army in Canada is daily reducing — about three hundred of the 
troops raised in Connecticut having passed here within a few days — so 
that I beheve not more than six hundred and fifty or seven hundred from 
that colony are left. From the different New York regiments about 
forty are also lately come away. An unhappy home-sickness prevails. 
Those mentioned above all came down as invalids, not one willing to 

20* 



466 PHILIP SCHUYLER, 



[^T. 42. 



reengage for the winter service. Unable to get any work done by 
them, I discharged them in groups. Of all the specifics ever invented 
for any, there is none so efficacious as a discliarge for this i^revailing 
disorder. No sooner was it administered but it perfected the cure of 
nine out of ten, wiio, refusing to wait for boats to go by the way of 
Lake George, slung their heavy packs, crossed the lake at this place, 
and undertook a march of two hundred miles, with the greatest good 
will and alacrity." He added : " The most scandalous inattention to 
the public stores prevails in every part of tlie army. The tents are left 
lying in the boats ; axes, kettles, etc., lost, and every thing running 
into confusion. The only attention that engrosses the minds of the 
soldiery is, how to get home the soonest possible. Nothing, sir. will 
ever put a stop to tljis shameful negligence but obliging the officers to 
pay for what is not accounted for, and let them deduct it out of the 
men's wages. They can not think this a hardship, as they were in- 
formed by me that every article that was issued to them should be re- 
turned into store, or properly accounted for. If they were suffiired to 
do it with impunity this year, it will be the same next."* 

Washington was also experiencing trouble at this time 
with the New England troops. 

" Such a dearth of public spiiit, and such a want of virtue — such a 
stock-jobbing and fertility in all the low arts to obtain advantages of 
one kind or another in this great change of military ari-angement — I 
never saw before," he wrote to the Continental Congress, " and pray 
God's mercy that I may never be witness to again. What will be the 
end of these maneuvers is beyond my scan. I tremble at the prospect. 
* * * * The Connecticut troops will not be prevailed upon to stay 
longer than their term, saving those who have enlisted for the next 
campaign and are mostly on furlough ; and such a mercenary spirit per- 
vades the whole, that I should not be at all surprised at any disaster 
that may happen."f 

Having complained of their conduct to Governor Trum- 
bull, informing him of their leaving in great numbers, and 
cairying with them, in many instances, the arms and 
ammunition belonging to the public, that functionary, 
whose views of patriotic duty were not bounded by the 
outlines of his own province, wrote : 

* Schuyler's MS. Letter Books. 

f Sparks'a Life and Writings of Washington, iiL, 178. 



1775.] INHUMANITY REBUKED. 467 

"The late extraoi-ilinary and repreliensible conduct of some of tlio 
troops of this colony impresses me, and tlie minds of many of our peo- 
ple, with grief, surprise, and indignation, since the treatment they met 
with, and the or.it r and request made to them [to remain until the ar- 
rival of other tiO'j;!-, alread.y engaged], were so reasonabli-, and ap- 
parently necessary, for the def^-nse of our common cause and safety of 
our rights and privileges for which they freely engaged ; the term 
they voluntarily enlisted to serve not expire<], and probably would not 
end much before the time when they would be relieved, provided their 
circumstances and inclination should prevent their undertaking further." 
He added, apologetically : " Indeed there is gr'cat dilBculty to support 
liberty, to exercise government, to maintain subordination, and at the 
same time to prevent the operation of licentious and levelling ])rinciple3 
which many very easily imbibe. The pulse of a New England man 
beats high for liberty; his engagement in the service he thinks purely 
ygluntary ; therefore when his term of enlistment is out he thinks him- 



At about this time a circumstance occurred at Ticonder- 
oga, which increased the ill-feeling of some of the Connect- 
icut troops toward General Schuyler. The prisoners taken 
at Charablee and St. John's, as we have seen, were sent to 
Schuyler for his final disposition of them. A schooner 
and row-galley, with more than one hundred j^ersons, many 
of them prisoners, and quite a number of women and chil- 
dren, from Canada, arrived at Crown Point late in Novem- 
ber. The ice prevented their reaching Ticonderoga, and 
they became destitute of provisions. In that perilous hour 
they sent an express to General Schuyler imploring relief. 
Pie immediately ordered three captains of Wooster's regi- 
ment who were at that post with a considerable body of 
men, to attempt the relief of the sufferers. They mani- 
fested much imwillingness to go, and made many frivolous 
excuses. This display of selfish inhumanity disgusted and 
irritated the benevolent and high-minded Schuyler, and in 
a public order, on the following day (November 29tli), he 

* Spark's Life and Writings of Washington, iu., 183. Note. 



468 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [^Et. 42. 

mentioned the circumstances, and named the three caj)- 
tains (Porter, Arnold, and Peck), and said : " The general, 
therefore, not daring to trust a matter of so much import- 
ance to men of so little feeling, has ordered Lieutenant 
Kiker, of Colonel Holmes's regiment, to make the attempt. 
He received the order with the alacrity becoming a gentle- 
man, an officer, and a Christian .""■•■" 

This was a severe but merited rebuke ; and these 
officers were loud in their denunciations of Schuyler in 
the willing ears of their suj)eriors. 

November Avas passing away, and Montgomery was yet 
at Montreal. " I am ashamed," he wrote to Schuyler, on 
the 24th, " of dating my letter from hence. You will no 
doubt be sm-prised at my long stay here, but day after day 
have I been delayed, without a possibility of getting to 
Arnold's assistance. To-morrow, I believe, I shall sail 
with two or three hundred men, some mortars, and other 
artillery." 

Montgomery had just heard that Lieutenant Halsey, 
of Waterbury's regiment, whom he had left as assistant 
engineer, to put up barracks at St. John's, had not only 
been chiefly instrumental in urging the Connecticut troops 
to leave for home, but had " run away without leave," 
taking with him the artificers Montgomery had left to 
cany on the work. While greatly annoyed by this infor- 
mation, he was subjected to the indignity of remonstrances 
from several of his officers because he had shown certain 
humane indulgences to British prisoners in his possession. 
" Such an insult," he wrote, " I could not bear, and im- 
mediately resigned. However, they have to-day qualified 
it, by such an apology as puts it in my power to resume 
the command with some propriety, and I have promised 

* Schuyler's MS. Orderly Book. 



1715.] TURBULENCE AND DESERTION. 469 

to bmy it in oblivion. Captain Lamb, who is a restless 
genius, and of a bad temper, was at the head of it. lie 
has been used to haranguing his fellow-citizens in New 
York, and can not restrain his talent here. He is brave, 
active, and intelligent, but very turbulent and trouble- 
Roniue, and not to be satisfied. "■■•'•" 

General Schuyler communicated these facts to the Con- 
tinental Congress, saying : 

" This turbulent and mutinous spirit will tend to the ruin of our 
cause; and the necessity of checking it immediately, and taking meas- 
ures to prevent it in future, strikes me so forcibly, that T take the liberty 
to observe that it is worthy of the immediate attention of Congress. I 
speak the more freely on this subject, as I would not wish that Grcneral 
Montgomery's and my successors, whoever they may be, should lead 
the disagreeable lives that we have."t 

Day after day Montgomery's little army dwindled, 
when it should have increased, and even the Green Moun- 
tain Boys, who were among the latest to join the exi)edi- 
tion as an organized corps, and on whose promises he had 
relied, left him "in the lurch," he said, at the moment 
of his greatest need. 

" It may be a?ked," wrote Schuyler to the Continental Congress, 
on the 27th of November, " why Warner's regiment was suffered to 
come away, and some other of the troops raise<i in tliis colony, as the 
terra for which they were engaged would not expire until the last day 
of next month? The unhappy cause is this: At St. John's the Con- 

* Autograph letter, Nov. 24, 1775. Montgomery fully appreciated tlie 
vilue of C^ptairi Lamb to the service. Four days before, he had written to 
Schuyler concerning him, saying: " I have had some difficulty in persuading 
him to stay He says the pay is such a trifle that he is consuming his own 
property to maintain himself, and that by and by his family must starve at 
home He is absolutely necessary with this army, if we arc to have artillery. 
He is active, spirited, and industrious; and I do think he should have an ap- 
pointment adequate to the services he has rendered. I have entreated h.m 
to stay, with the assurance that I would represent his circumstances to Con- 
gress. I hear of your bad health with the most real concern." 
f Schuyler's MS. Letter Books. 



470 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [Mr. 42. 

nectieut troops were so very importunate to return home that General 
^ront^omery was under tlie necessity of promising that all those that 
would follow him to ifontreal should have leave to return. This dec- 
laration he could not confine to the Connecticut troops, as such a dis- 
criinination would have been odious. It might have been expected 
that men, influenced by a love of liberty, would not have required such 
a promise, and that others to whom it was not immediately intended 
would not have taken the advantage of it."* 

While the army was thus melting, the Continental 
Congress were very dilatory in furnishing men to fill the 
vacancies, notwithstanding their eagerness to possess Can- 
ada ; and Montgomery found himself, at the close of 
November, when on the point of marching to Quebec, in 
command of less than two thousand men in all Canada, 
including those under Arnold, and the garrisons to be left 
at St. John's, Chamblee, and Montreal. He yearned for 
relief, yet his duty to his adopted country would not per- 
mit him to leave the chief command of the army in the 
field with General Wooster, who, Gates wrote, it was " on 
all hands agreed, was too infirm for that service." " Will 
not your healtli," he wrote to Schuyler, " permit you to 
reside at Montreal this winter ? I must go home, if I 
walk by the side of the lake. I am weary of power, and 
totally want that patience and temper requisite for such a 
command. I wish exceedingly for a respectable committee 
of Congress. I really have not weight enough to carry on 
business by myself. I wish Lee could set off immediately 
for the command here."f 

* Selmylcr's MS. Letter Books. 

f Auto<,^raph letters, Nov. 13-24. Schuyler and Montgomery liad botli 
urged the Oongross to send a committee of their body to act in concert with 
the military commander in the northern department, in the management of the 
campaign, and in the formation of civil government, in the event of the re- 
duction of Canada, or in the arrangement of a new army for that service, if 
the campaign should not prove successful. 

Un account of the continued ill health of General Schuyler it had been 
proposed to make General Charles Lee commander-in-chief of the northern 
department. 



1775.] SCHUYLER RETURNS TO ALBANY. 471 

Schuyler's health would not permit hun to go to Mon- 
treal, nor even to remain at Ticonderoga ; and for the 
purpose of rest as a moans of recovery, he was cumpelled 
to leave for his homo at Albany, early in December. He 
deeply regretted the stern necessity that deprived him of 
participation in the toils, dangers, and glory of the con- 
quest of Canada, for the consummation of which he had so 
earnestly labored. He had daily and hourly afforded Mont- 
gomery all the aid in his power ; and before leaving Ticon- 
deroga he had disposed of all the prisoners sent to him, 
put the entire service on as good footing as the means at 
his command would allow, and arranged every thing that 
might facilitate the labors of Colonel Knox in removing 
the cannon, mortars, and artillery stores from Ticonderoga 
to Boston, on which service he had been sent by General 
Washington. Leaving the post of Ticonderoga in charge 
of Colonel Holmes, with very particular instructions for 
his conduct, he proceeded southward by the way of Lake 
George (at the head of which he met Colonel Knox), and 
arrived at Albany on Thursday, the 7th of December. 
On Saturday, the 9th, he addressed the following note to 
the pastor of the church in Albany which he and his fam- 
ily attended : 

" General Schuyler's respectful compliments : He begs the Rev. Mr. 
Westerlo publicly to acknowledge the manifold favors he, and the army 
under his command, have expeiienced from the Fountain of all Grace 
and Mercy ; and while he approaches the throne of Heaven with a 
grateful heart for mercies past, humbly to supphcate a continuance of 
the Divine protection, and to pray for a speedy and a happy reconcilia- 
tion with the mother country."* 

On his arrival at Albany, Schuyler found about sixty 
of the Six Nations of Indians waiting for him. Mr. 
Douw was the only other commissioner present, yet the 

* Autograph draft of letter. 



472 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [^t. 42. 

exigency of the case demanded action, and Schuyler and 
Douw oj)eiied business with them. The savages had come 
to testify their friendship, and the communications which 
they made were important. 

" The Indians," said Schuyler, in a letter to the Continental Con- 
gress, on the 14tli of December, "delivered us a speech on the 12th, 
in which they related the substance of all the conferences Colonel John- 
son had with them the last summer, concluding with that at Montreal, 
where he delivered to each of the Canadian tribes a war-belt and a 
hatchet, who accepted it ; after which, they were invited to feast on a 
Bostonian and to drink his blood, an ox being roasted alive for the pur- 
pose and a pipe of red wine given to drink. The war-song was also sung. 
One of the chiefs of the Six Nations that attended at that conference 
accepted of a very large, black war-belt, with a hatchet depicted in it, 
but would neither eat nor drink nor sing the war-song. The famous 
belt they have delivered up, and we have full proof that the ministerial 
servants have attempted to engage the savages against us." To Wash- 
ington he wrote : " The Mohawks have received a severe and public 
reprimand from the other Nations, because they did not immediately 
send for tlie few of that tribe that were in Canada [under Brant], some 
of whom were killed by our people." And to Montgomery he wrote: 
" The Indians have delivered to us Colonel Johnson's war-belt, which 
he gave them at Montreal. Your conquests have convinced them that 
they cannot do without us, and they are all humiliation."* 

At about this time the Congress received such infor- 
mation concerning the conduct of Sir John Johnson and 
the Tories of the Mohawk Valley, indicative of their 
speedy activity iu the royal cause, such as collecting arms, 
ammunition, and military stores, that they resolved to 
take countervailing measures. When the committee ap- 
pointed to inquire into the matter reported, it was— • 

" Resolved, That the said committee be directed to communicate 
this intelligence to General Schuyler, and, in the name of the Congress, 
desire him to take the most speedy and effectual measures for securing 
the said arms and military stores, and for disarming the said Tories, 
aud apprehending their chiefs."* 

* Schuyler's MS. Letter Books, f Journal of Congress, Dec. 30, 1775. 



1775.] A FAITHFUL OFFICER. 473 

Altliough further removed from the most important 
events transpiring in the northern department, than wlien 
he was at Ticondcroga, General Schuyler was equally use- 
ful and efficient, with his head-quarters at Albany, (while 
Montgomery and Arnold were prosecuting the campaign 
on the St. Lawrence,) in the general management of the 
details of the service, and the paramount duty of furnish- 
ing the troops with supplies, m-ging forward reenforce- 
ments, and keeping the civil authorities and tlie com- 
mander-in-chief of the armies so constantly and clearly 
advised of all matters pertaining to his department, that 
nothing to promote the success of the expedition was left 
undone because of a lack of information. 

No officer Avas ever more vigilant and active than 
Schuyler. Nothing escaped his observation ; and nothing 
of the least value to the service was too insignilicant to en- 
gage his earnest attention. Instead of leaving the entire 
management of separate departments — commissary, quar- 
ter-master, muster-master, and hospital-superintendent — 
to those whom Congress had appointed for that service, he 
exercised a direct personal supervision of all. He made 
out careful estimates of provisions and stores for the com- 
missary ; directed many of the details of the quarter- 
master's department ; made lists of materials used in the 
construction of vessels, and took great interest in the hos- 
pital provisions for the sick. He attended with zeal and 
courtesy to the wants and comfort of prisoners, and listened 
Avith complacency to the petitions of private soldiers who 
could obtain no redress for alleged wrongs through their 
immediate superiors. Some of the letters of these humble 
men (carefully filed among his papers), in whicli they 
laid their grievances before him, are most touching ex- 
amples ofthat unhesitating faith in his justice which was 



474 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [.^T. 42 

felt by all who knew him, and the love and reverence of 
every man whose worthiness made him an object of General 
Schuyler's kind regard. It was only to the assmning, the 
disobedient, the insubordinate, the idle, and the vicious, 
that he appeared as a stern master. 

General Schuyler was as tender and tenacious of the 
rights of others as of his own ; and in all his intercourse 
with the officers of his army his conduct was so inflexibl}'- 
and irreproachably honorable that no man, not even his 
bitter enemies, ever comjjlained that General Schuyler had 
claimed for himself that which he was not willing to allow 
to others, or by his just autliority invaded any right be- 
longing to a fellow-soldier, high or low in rank or merit. 
He was scrupulously just to all ; and in exacting from 
others that loyalty to his official power which he was ever 
quick to give to his own superiors in rank, he was always 
governed by the highest sense of right. Therefore, when 
we see him rebuking insubordination, peculation, and 
waste, in the army, sternly, and sometimes passionately, 
in clear Saxon language, which all might understand ; 
speaking out his sentiments without circumlocution, or 
using soft and submissive words as a cover to a dissimu- 
lating spirit, we behold a man, fearless in the performance 
of duty, regardl(>ss of reputation, except that which rests 
upon the solid basis of useful actions, and so fortilied by 
the consciousness of rectitude against the shafts of " envy, 
hatred, and malice," that he could afford to be dutiful at 
the expense of present unjiopularity. A careful guardian 
of the public welfare, economical in his management, and 
an exact disciplinarian, it is no wonder tliat the disorderly 
spirit manifested by the troops, the peculations of com- 
missaries and others in offices of trust, wastefulness in 
every department, and the seliishness and sectional jealousy 



1775.] RESIGNATION CONTEMPLATED. 475 

that continually aiipeared, that vexed and annoyed him 
every hour, made him weary of the service, and caused him 
at last to ask Congress to allow him to retire. 

From the beginning, Schuyler's illness had given 
AVashington and the General Congress much uneasiness, for 
upon him hung the best hopes of the northern campaign. 
The commander-in-chief had been specially concerned when 
he found that Wooster was about to join the army of the 
North, and might claim to be next in rank and command 
to Schuyler. "G-cneral Wooster," he wrote to Schuyler, 
" I am informed, is not of such activity as to press through 
difficulties with which that service is environed. I am 
therefore much alarmed for Arnold, whose exi)edition was 
built upon yours, and who will infallibly perish, if the in- 
vasion and entry into Canada are abandoned by your suc- 
cessors." ••'■ But when Schuyler, as we have seen, by prompt 
action, settled the ])oint concerning Wooster's rank, Wash- 
ington's mind was relieved, and he wrote to him saying : 
" I much approve your conduct in regard to Wooster. My 
fears are at an end, as he acts in a subordinate character."f 

Washington's mind was again disturbed, when Schuy- 
ler, tortured by disease and vexed beyond all forbearance 
by the conduct of the troops around him, gave notice 
to the commander-in-chief of his intention to resign. 
" Gentlemen," he said in his letter to Washington, "fmd 

* Sparks's Life and Writings of Wiishinjton, iii., 119. 

f Ibid, iii., 143. Gunning- Bedford, writing to Schuyler from Philadelphia, 
eaid : " I find that the majority of the members are by no means pleased 
with the Connecticut troops, and are glad to hear j ou managed General 
Wooster as you did. I own, for myseli; I had great fears of this dangerous 
tendency of his and their prevailing spirit, and it gives me particular pleasure 
1 hat your most prudent conduct has relieved you of so much trouble and anxi- 
ety. ' The gentlemen here all feel for your disagreeable situation; but put that, 
confidence in your conduct, that when restored to health, and aid jd by some 
new regulations for the government of the soldiery, you will find yourself 
more comfortable, at the head of a more obedient army.— Autograph Letter. 



476 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [^T. 42, 

it very disagreeable to coax, to wheedle, and even to lie, 
to carry on the service. Habituated to order, I can not, 
without the most extreme pain, see that disregard of disci- 
pline, confusion, and inattention which reigns so generally 
ii this quarter, and I am, therefore, determined to retire." 

The Congress entreated Schuyler to remain at his post, 
because, they said, his retirement ". would deprive America 
of the benefits of his zeal and abilities, and rob him of the 
honor of completing the work he had so happily begun." 

Washington, regarding Schuyler as one of the main 
supports of the Continental army, was much concerned, 
and immediately wrote to him an expostulatory letter. 

"I know your complaints are too well founded," he said; " but I 
would willingly hope that nothing will induce you to quit the serv- 
ice, and that, in time, order and subordination will take the place of 
confusion, and command be rendered more agreeable. I have met with 
difficulties of the same sort, and such as I never expected ; but they 
must be borne with. * * * The cause we are engaged in is so just 
and righteous that we must try to rise superior to every obstacle in its 
support ; and, therefore, I beg that you will not think of resigning, un- 
less you have carried your application to Congress too far to recede." 
Three weeks later, Washington wrote to him, saying: "I am very 
sorry to find, by several paragraphs [in Schuyler's letter to Congress], 
that both you and General ^[ontgomery incline to quit the service. 
Let me ask you, sir, when is the time lor brave men to exert them- 
selves in the cause of liberty and their country, if this is not? Should 
any difficulties that they have to encounter, at this important crisis, de- 
ter them? Grod knows there is not a difficulty that you both very 
justly complain of, which I have not, in an eminent degree, experienced, 
that I am not every day experiencing ; but we must bear up against 
them, and make the best of mankind as they are, since we can not have 
them as we wish. Let me, therefore, conjure you and Mr. Montgom- 
ery to lay aside such thoughts — thoughts injurious to yourselves, and 
extremely so to your country, which calls aloud for gentlemen of your 
abilities."* 

General Schuyler felt the force of this appeal, and re- 
plied as follows : 

* Sparks's Life and Writings of Wcwihington, iii., 209. 



1775.] PATRIOTIC SENTIMENTS. 477 

" I do not hesitate a moment to answer my clear general's question, 
in the affirmative, by declaring, that now or never is tlie time for every 
Tirtuous American to exert himself in the cause of liberty and his coun- 
try, and that it becomes a duty cheerfully to sacrifice the sweets of 
domestic felicity to attain the honest and glorious end America has in 
view ; and I can, Avith a good conscience, declare that I have devoted 
myself to the service of my country, in the firmest resolution, to sink or 
swim with it, without anxiety how I quit the stage of life, provided I 
leave to my posterity tlie happy reflection that their ancestor was an 
honest American." Then anticipating the question, " Why, then, do you 
wish to retire from public office?" General Schuyler unburdened his full 
heart in the confidence of brother with brother, and said : " I think I 
should prejudice my country by continuing any longer in this command. 
The favorable opinion you are pleased to entertain of me, obliges me to 
an explanation which I shall give you in confidence. I have already 
informed you of the disagreeable situation I have been in during the 
campaign, but I would waive that, were it not that it lias chiefly arisen 
fi'om prejudice and jealousy, for I could point out particular persons of 
rank in the army who have frequently declared that the general com- 
manding in this quarter ought to be of the colony whence the majority 
of the troops come. But it is not from the opinion or principles of in- 
dividuals that I have drawn the following conclusion : That troops from 
the colony of Connecticut loill not hear luith a general from another colony. 
It is from the daily and common conversation of all ranks of people 
from that colony, both in and out of the army ; and I assure you, that 
I sincerely lament that a people of so much public virtue should be 
actuated by such an unbecoming jealousy, founded on such a narrow 
principle — a principle extremely unfriendly to our righteous cause — as 
it tends to ahenate the affections of numbers in this colony, in spite of 
the most favorable constructions that prudent men and real Americans 
among us attempt to put upon it. And although I frankly avow that I 
feel a resentment, yet I shall continue to sacrifice it to a nobler object — 
the welfare of that country in which 1 have drawn the breath of fife."* 

Entreated by leading men of all classes, who knew his 
worth, to remain in command of his department, Schuyler 
yielded ; and in the events of 1776, in that quarter, his 
services were of incalculable value to the cause which he 
had so heartily espoused. 

* Schuyler's MS. Letter Books. 



CHAPTER XXVIII. 

The successes of Montgomery, and especially his tri- 
umph at Montreal, had given great joy to the whole coun- 
try. This was heightened by the intelligence of Arnold's 
arrival before Quebec, with his troops in good spirits. 
" We receive, with very great satisfaction, your congratu- 
lations on the glorious success of the Continental army in 
Canada," wrote Nathaniel Woodhull on behalf of the New 
York Provincial Congress, to General Schuyler, "and we 
can assure you that it is much heightened by the considera- 
tion that we recommended the generals who have, with so 
much activity and success, conducted an expedition which 
was attended with difficulties, thought to be insuperable 
by those who were acquainted with them.''* And the Con- 
tinental Congress, in testimony of their appreciation of his 
services, promoted Montgomery to the rank of major-gene- 
ral on the 9th of December. 

The thoughtless many believed the conquest of all 
Canada to be an easy task after these victories, but there 
were a wise few, in and out of legislative halls, who shared 
in the anxieties of the leaders in the northern army, and 
condemned, without stint, the conduct of the troops, who, 
at the moment of greatest need, had practically abandoned 
the cause and returned home. The Continental Confjress 
received its share of blame because of its tardiness in 
* Autograph letter, Doc. 9, 1775. 



1775.] ARNOLD AT QUEBEC. 479 

affording needed cooperation. Time after time, both 
Schuyler and Montgomery had besought them to send re- 
enforcements and supplies, and also an advisory committee 
like the one dispatched to Cambridge to confer with Wash- 
ington, but it was not until too late to be of service in 
the current campaign tliat such committee were appoint- 
ed,* and made their way toward Montreal. Montgomery 
was therefore compelled, by circumstances, to make un- 
authorized arrangements with the troops to induce them 
to go forward ; and he left Montreal for Quebec without 
seeing the committee. 

"Be so good," he wrote to Schuyler from near Quebec, "as to show 
Congress the necessity I was under of clothing the troops to induce 
them to stay and undertake this service at such an inclement season. 
I think, had the committee been with me, they would have seen the 
propriety of grasping at every circumstance in my power, to induce them 
to engage again. I was not without my apprehensions of not only 
being unable to make my appearance here, but even being obliged to 
relinquish the ground I had gained. However, I hope the clothing 
and dollar bounty will not greatly exceed the bounty offered by Con- 
gress * * * Upon another occasion I have also ventured to go 
beyond the letter of the law. Colonel Easton's detachment at the mouth 
of the Sorel was employed on the important service of stopping the 
fleet. They were half naked, and the weather was very severe. I was 
afraid that not only they might grow impatient and relinquish the 
business in hand, biit I also saw the reluctance the troops at Montreal 
showed to quit it. By way of stimulant, I offered as a reward all 
public stores taken in the vessels, to the troops who went forward, except 
ammunition and provisions. Warner's corps refused to march, or at 
least declined it. Bedel's went on, and came in for a share of the labor 
and honor. I hope the Congress will not think this money ill laid 
out."t 

Arnold, as we have seen, was baffled in his attempts to 

•cross the St. Lawrence at Quebec, by a tempest of wind 

and sleet that continued for several days and nights 

Meanwhile the gan-ison in the city was strengthened by 

* Robert R. Livingstou, Robert Treat Paine, and John i.augdou. 
\ Autograph letter, Dec. 5, 1775. 



480 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [Mt. 42. 

the Highlanders under McLean, that fled from the Sorel. 
At length the wind ceased, and at nine o'clock in the 
evening of the 13th of November, Arnold began the em- 
barcation of his troops in birch canoes. Before dawn the 
next morning over five hundred of them had crossed, un- 
perceived until the last moment by the British vessels 
lying in the river, and rendezvoused at Wolfe's Cove, 
where the lamented hero of the old war })rei)ared to scale 
the heights of Abraham. One hundred and fifty men 
wei'e yet at Point Levi, but it was too late to return for 
them ; so Arnold, emulating the daring of Wolfe, placed 
himself at the head of his little band of heroes, and before 
sunrise on the 14th, scaled the acclivity at the exact point 
where his predecessor ascended, sixteen years before. 

That little band presented a sublime spectacle. There 
they stood, only five hundred and fifty strong, upon a 
bleak eminence, in the dim light of a keen, wdutry morn- 
ing, thinly clad, scantily fed, more than half their muskets 
made useless by the storms of the wilderness, with a dark 
castle and massive stone walls, that inclosed an alert gar- 
rison and five thousand inhabitants, frowning upon them, 
yet with the expectation of seeing the proud city bow to 
them as its conquerors ! 

Yet all were not enemies within those walls, nor even 
within that garrison. In fact, Lieutenant-Governor Cra- 
mahd, in command there, could not certainly rely upon 
any one except the Royal Scotch regiment — McLean's 
Banditti, as Montgomery called them. Most of the Cana- 
dians in the city were friendly to the invaders ; and many 
who bore arms, pressed unwillingly into the service, would 
do but feeble execution against the republicans. Indeed, 
they would have joined them at the first opportunity. It 
was upon these friends and their disaffected soldiers that 



l'?'?5.] QUEBEC MENACED. 481 

Arnold relied more for success tlian upon tlie arms of the 
men under his command. He believed that a shout from 
his troops, under the walls of Quebec, would be the signal 
for an insurrection in his favor within ; and he accordingly 
drew up his men within eight hundred yards of the gates 
of St. Louis and St. John, and ordered them to give three 
cheers. He expected, at least, to see the regulars sally 
out to attack him, when, he hoped, by the assistance of 
friends in the city, to be able to rush in through the open 
gates, and seize the town. But Cramahc and McLean were 
too wary to open the gates without perceiving a sure pros- 
pect of success ; and the people within, awed by the 
presence of troops, were comparatively passive and silent. 
The parapets of the walls were, however, "soon covered 
with people, and many of them responded to the huzzas 
of the republican troops. The Americans also discharged 
several guns at the British soldiery, but without effect, 
while the shot of a thirty-two pound cannon, brought to 
bear upon the republicans, proved equally harmless. 

The whole affair now began to assume the character 
of a solemn farce. It was soon rendered completely so by 
Arnold, who sent to Lieutenant-Governor Cramahe, by a 
flag, a pompous proclamation and demand for a surrender. 
After a preface, in which he set forth that he had been sent 
by General Washington to cooperate with General Schuy- 
ler by taking possession of the city of Quebec, he said : 

"I do, therefore, iu the name of the united Colonies, demand im- 
mediate surrender of the town, fortifications, etc., of Quebec to the forces 
of the united colonies under my command, forbidding you to injure any 
of the inhabitants of the town in their persons or property, as you will 
answer the same at your peril. On surrendering the town, the prop- 
erty of every individual shall be secured to him ; but if I am obliged to 
carry the town by storm, you may expect every severity practised on 
such occasion ; and the merchants, who may now save their property, 
will probably be involved in the general ruin." 

21 



482 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [^t. 42. 

The bearer of this summons was fired upon ; but on 
the following day Arnold found means to convey it to 
Cramah^, with a letter, in which he assured him that he 
had several British prisoners in his hands, who should re- 
ceive the same treatment that the lieutenant-governor had 
given, as he understood, an American prisoner, then in 
irons within the town.* But the letter and the proclama- 
tion were treated with contempt. There were no signs of 
insurrection in the city, and the invaders were considered 
harmless."}" 

Colonel Arnold thought it not prudent to attempt to 
storm the town with a force so feeble. He accordingly 
proceeded to invest it, so as to cut off all communication 
with the country, with the hope of reducing the garrison 
by starvation, he having been informed that provisions 
were scarce in the city. He made the large mansion of 
Major Caldwell, " half a league from the city," his head- 
quarters, and his extensive out-buildings were converted 
into barracks for the troops. He also took possession of a 
nunnery for the same purpose, and made provision for the 
sick and wounded. The detachment left at Point Levi 
had made its way to the camp meanwhile, and his force 
numbered a little less than seven hundred men. 

But Arnold was soon compelled to raise the siege. 

* This was a young Virginian, named George Merchant, who had been 
suddenly seized by a party of British, wliile on duty as a sentinel near the 
walls. 

\ "This ridiculous affair," wrote an eye-witness, "gave me a contemptible 
opinion of Arnold. Morgan, Febiger, and other officers did not hesitate to 
speak of it in that point of view. However, Arnold had a vain desire to 
gratify. He was well known at Quebec. Because ho had traded in horses 
there he was despised by the principal people. The epithet of horse-jockey 
was freely and universally bestowed upon him by the British. Having now 
obtained power, he became anxious to display it in the faces of those who 
had formerly despised and contemned him." — Judge Henry's Campaign 
against Quebec. 



1775.] ARNOLD ABANDONS QUEBEC. 483 

Friends from above inforiued him that Carleton was ap- 
proaching Quebec in an armed vessel, with two hundred 
men ; and other friends in tlie city assured him, on the 
18th, that McLean would sally out with several field- 
pieces, the next day, and attack him. He at once per- 
ceived the danger of his situation ; and on a strict exami- 
nation of his ammunition, he found that he had not more 
than five rounds of powder to each man, so much had been 
spoiled in the march across the wilderness. Under these 
circumstances he deemed it prudent to withdraw. On the 
morning of the 19tli he broke up his camp, and retired to 
Point aux Trembles (Aspen-Tree Point), eight leagues 
above Quebec, and there awaited the orders of Montgomery. 
On his way he saw the vessel that was conveying Carleton 
and his friends to Quebec. It had touched at Point aux 
Trembles, but proceeded immediately on hearing of the 
approach of the republicans. Soon afterward, Arnold 
heard the booming of the cannon that welcomed the gov- 
ernor back to the capital. 

In full view of the difficulties before him, Montgomery 
left Montreal for Quebec, on the 26th of November, 
thoroughly imbued with the spirit of a soldier and a law- 
giver commissioned to redeem and remodel a state. He 
confidently expected success in his military enterprise ; and 
he -wrote to Schuyler : "I shall lose no time in calling a 
convention when my intended expedition is finished." He 
proceeded in three armed schooners, with artillery and 
provisions, and only three hundred troops. On the 1st 
of December ho arrived at Point aux Trembles, and on the 
3d made a formal junction between his own and Arnold's 
troo])S, and took the chief command. 

The fearful rigors of a Canadian winter were at hand, 
and yet, feeble as were his preparations for the perilous 



484 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [^T. 42. 

service before him, the valiant Montgomery was hopeful. 
"I need not tell yon," he wrote to his father-in-law, " that 
until Quebec is taken, Canada is unconquered ; and that, 
to accomplish this, we must resort to siege, investment, or 
storm." The first was out of the question, because he had 
no battering train ; and from the impossibility of making 
trenches in a rocky soil and in winter, the second could 
not be successfully accomplished without ample reenforce- 
ments, for the city had j)rovisions for eight months ; but 
the third he thought feasible. 

" To the storming plan," he said, " there are fewer objections ; and 
to this we must come at last. If my force be small, Carle ton's is not 
great. The extensiveness of his works, which, in case of investment, 
would favor him, will, in the other case, favor us. Masters of our 
secret, we may select a particular time and place for attack, and to re- 
pel this the garrison must be prepared at all times and places ; a cir- 
cumstance which will impose upon it incessant watching and labor, by 
day and by night, which, in its undisciplined state, must breed discon- 
tents that may compel Carleton to capitulate, or perhaps to make an 
attempt to drive us off. In this last idea there is a glimmering of hope. 
Wolfe's success was a lucky hit, or rather a series of such hits ; all 
sober and scientific calculation was against him, until Montcalm, per- 
mitting his courage to get the better of discretion, gave up the advantage 
of his fortress, and came out to try his strength on the plain. Carle- 
ton, who was Wolfe's quarter-master-general, understands this well, 
and, it is to be feared, will not follow the Frenchman's example."* 

With these views Montgomery prepared to march 
upon Quebec. He was much pleased with Arnold's 
troops, and spoke of them in high terms in a letter to 
Schuyler : 

" I find Colonel Arnold's corps," he said, " an exceedingly fine one. 
Inured to fatigue, and well accustomed to cannon shot (at Cambridge), 
there is a style of discipline among them much superior to what I have 
been used to see this campaign. He, himself, is active, intelligent, and 
entei-prising. Fortune often baffles the sanguine expectations of poor 

* American Archives, Fourth Series, iii., 1638. 



1775.] MONTGOMERY BEFORE QUEBEC. 485 

mortals I am not intoxicated with the favors I have received at her 
hand^ but I do thinlc there is a fair prospect of success. The governor 
has been so kind as to send out of town many of our friends, who re- 
fused to do military duty;* among them several very ^atelhgent men 
capable of doing me considerable service-one of them, a Mr. AntiU, I 
have appointed cliief engineer."t 

Montgomery clothed Arnold's corps with thick suits 
from the public stores ; and while they were paraded in 
front of the parish church at Point aux Trembles, he ad- 
dressed them in words of just praise and patriotic exhor- 
tation " A few huzzas/' says Henry, " from our freezmg 
bodies were returned to this address of the gallant hero. 
New life was infused into the whole corps ;" and the httle 
army of republicans, less tha;i a thousand strong, with 
two hundred Canadians under Colonel James Livmgston, 
pressed on toward the capital in the face of a severe snow- 

storm. , f. -p> 

Montgomeiy arrived before Quebec on the 5th ot De- 
cember, made his head-quarters at Holland House, m the 
parish of St. Foi, between two and three miles from the 
town, and from there, on the same day, wrote a long and 
interesting letter to Schuyler. 

"Mr. Carleton," he said, "who xs, I suppose, f ^--^^J^^^ 

I f ^«l ffir^arrison consii of McLane's ban.liui, the ^ilors from 
Itfrtat fo7oZ vessels laid up, together with the c,ti»n, obhged 

'^ . Carleto. was „.popu,at with the 7--? in'L'a^rtSJ'y 
„Weh he had shown "'"^f"""' "»;'"'";;";; runpoimlarily. and 
and the Canadian t-entry. He was ^t.^^^':^^2^^JoL.^>U'^'^- 
,„„ted with distrns. on «'' --^';™-,,f X^X ordering ail persons 

ttirrror:a°st7hehin.»^ 

alty of being treated as rebels or spies. 
"•I- Autograph Letter, December 5, 1775. 



486 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [^t. 42. 

to take up arms, most of whom are impatient of the fatigues of a siege, 
and wish to see matters accommodated amicably. I propose amusing 
Mr. Carleton with a formal attack, erecting batteries, etc. ; but mean to 
assault the works of the Lower Town, which is the weakest part. I 
have this day written to Mr. Cai'leton, and also to the inhabitants, which, 
I hope, will have some effect. I shall be very sorry to be reduced to 
this mode of attack, because I know the melancholy consequences, but 
tlie approaching severe season, and the weakness of the garrison, to- 
gether with the nature of the works, point it out too strongly to be 
passed by."* 

Montgomery's letter to Carleton, above-mentioned, was 
a demand for the instant surrender of the city. This was 
his first act after disposing his troops before Quebec. In 
violation of the rules of honorable warfare, the governor 
ordered McLean to fire upon the flag, and not allow it to 
approach the walls. Montgomery was made very indig- 
nant by this treatment, and on the following morning he 
addressed a very menacing letter to Carleton, in which he 
exaggerated the strength and appointments of his army, 
and made a demand for an instant surrender. This letter, 
and one of like tenor to the inhabitants, were carried into 
the town by a woman from the country, and a co2:)y of the 
letter was afterward shot over the w^alls upon an arrow. 
But Carleton, innately brave, and relying upon his known 
resources, refused to hold any communication with the 
" rebel general," nor would he permit the least intercourse 
between the citizens and the people outside the walls. 
He was well informed of the real strength of Montgomery's 
forces, felt confident that the garrison would keep the dis- 
loyal citizens quiet, and expected to see the rigors of the 
winter soon drive the besiegers away. 

Montgomery now prepared for an assault. His quar- 
ters, as we have observed, were at Holland House. Those 
of Arnold were near Scott's Bridge on the St. Charles River, 

* Autograph Letter, Dec. 5, 1775. 



1775.] AN ICE-BATTERY. 487 

and the greater portion of the republican troops were en- 
camped near the Intendant's Palace in the suburb St. 
Roque, of the Lower Town, not fiir from Palace Gate. His 
prospects were certainly very unpromising. With a feeble, 
ill-clad, ill-fed army, exposed to the most severe frosts 
and storms in the open holds ; with no other ordnance 
than a field-train of artillery and a few mortars ; with 
few intrenching tools, and the ground frozen to a great 
depth and covered with snow-drifts, how could the re- 
publican commander hope for success ? Yet his brave 
heart and generous spirit would not yield to tliese formida- 
ble obstacles, and he resolved to force the garrison and 
people to surrender by a series of annoyances, hinted at in 
his letter just quoted. He accordingly planted four or 
five mortars in the suburb St. Roque, of the Lower Town, 
and from tliese cast about two hundred shells into the 
city, in the course of thirty hours, but without other seri- 
ous eifect than setting a few buildings on fire. He had 
already commenced the construction of a six-gun battery 
and other works under the direction of Captain Antill, on 
the plains of Abraham, about seven hundred yards from 
the walls. It was a difficult task, for the ground was 
deeply frozen, and the snow lay in umnense drifts. In- 
deed, the earth could not be penetrated, and gabions and 
fascines were set up and filled with snow, upon which water 
was poured, and instantly congealed. Thus, an ice mound 
was soon formed, and upon this glittering embankment 
Captain Lamb placed six twelve-pound cannon and two 
howitzers, in battery. 

When these works were completed, Montgomery sent 
Colonel Arnold, and Captain Macpherson (liis favorite aid- 
de-camp), with a flag of truce, to bear letters to the governor. 
They reached the walls without molestation, when they 



488 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [JEt. 42. 

were ordered off immediately. To their question, whether 
the governor would receive any letters from them, they 
were answered with an emphatic No, and ordered to leave. 
Carleton utterly refused to hold any kind of parley with 
the besiegers. Montgomery was exceedingly indignant, 
and on the following morning he contrived to send in to 
Carleton a letter, in which, after charging him with per- 
sonal ill-treatment, and cruelty to American prisoners, 
and informing him that he well knew the governor's situa- 
tion, and that only motives of humanity caused him to 
make another overture for a surrender, he said : 

" I am at the head of troops accustomed to success, confident of the 
righteousness of the cause they are engaged in, inured to danger and 
fatigue, and so highly incensed at your inhumanity, illiberal abuse, and 
the ungenerous means employed to prejudice them in the minds of the 
Canadians, that it is with difficulty I restrain them till my batteries are 
ready, from assaulting your works, which would afford them a fair op- 
portunity of ample vengeance and just retaliation. Firing upon a flag 
of truce, hitherto unprecedented, even among savages, prevents my 
following the ordinary mode of conveying my sentiments; however, I 
will, at any rate, acquit my conscience. Should you persist in an un- 
warrantable defense, the consequence be upon your own head. Be- 
ware of destroying stores of any sort, as you did at Montreal or in the 
river. If you do, by Heaven, there will be no mercy shown."* 

Carleton j)aid no attention to this letter ; and Mont- 
gomery ordered Lamb to open his battery upon the ene- 
my's works. Bombs were sent from the Lower Town at 
the same time, and did some damage, but the cannon 
made no serious impression upon the walls. At length 
heavy balls, hurled from the citadel, shivered Lamb's ice- 
battery and the brittle breast-work near, and very soon 
silenced his cannon, and compelled him to withdraw. 

It was toward the close of the day, when this destruc- 
tive gun was brought to bear upon the ice battery. Mont- 

* American Archives, Fourth Series, iiu, 289. 



1775.] PLANS OF ASSAULT. 489 

gomery, accompanied by his youthful aid-de-camp, Aaron 
Burr, paid a visit to the trenches, and at the moment 
when he approached the spot where Lamb was plying his 
guns, a shot from .the enemy dismounted one of them and 
wounded several of the men. A second, and almost equally 
destructive shot, immediately followed. " This is warm 
work, sir," said Montgomery, addressing Captain Lamb. 
" It is, indeed," replied the gallant soldier, " and certainly 
no place for you, sir." " Why so, captain ?" asked Mont- 
gomery. " Because," he answered, " there are enough of 
us here to be killed, without the loss of you, which would 
be irreparable." The general quickly perceived the insuf- 
ficiency of the batteries, and, on retiring, gave Captain 
Lamb permission to withdraw his men whenever he might 
think proper ; immediately if he chose to do it. But Lamb 
decided to remain until dark, when, securing all the guns, 
he abandoned the ruined redoubt. Lamb, who had never 
seen Burr before, wondered that the general should en- 
cumber his military family with a boy. But on observing 
his perfect coolness in the midst of the greatest danger, 
and the fire in his keen, black eye, and perceiving no 
trace of the distm'bances of fear in his singularly striking 
countenance, he was convinced that the young volunteer 
was no ordinary youth, and not out of place by the side 
of the brave Montgomery. "■••■ 

The commander had not expected much breaching 
service from his cannon. They were intended more to lull 
the enemy into security at other pomts than as means of 
much destructive execution. He had other and more 
effective plans in view ; and on the evening of his first 
cannonade, he wrote to General Wooster, saying : 

o Leake's Life of Lamb, p. 126. 
21* 



490 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [^t. 42. 

"The enemy have very heavy metal, and I thhik will dismount our 
gun3 very shortly; some they have already rendered almost useless. 
This gives very little uneasiness ; I never expected any other advan- 
tage from our artillery than to amuse the enemy and blind them as to 
my real intention. I propose the first strong northwester, to make two 
attacks by night : one with about a third of the troops, on the Lower 
Town, having first set fire to some houses, which will, in all probabiUty, 
communicate their flames to the stockade lately erected on the rock 
near St. Roque ; the other upon Cape Diamond Bastion, by escalade. 
I have not time to point out my reasons for this particular attack ; let 
it suffice that it is founded on the nature of the grounds, works, and 
the best intelhgence I have been able to procure. However, I am not 
sure whether the troops relish this mode of proceecUng."* 

That evening (16th of December) Montgomery called 
a council of all the commissioned officers of Arnold's de- 
tachment, to determine upon future proceedings. A large 
majority voted for making an assault as soon as reenforce- 
ments should ariive, and the men should be furnished 
with bayonets, hatchets, and hand-grenades. But in these 
contingencies lay all the difficulty. 

"I have been near a fortnight before Quebec, at the head of upward 
of eight hundred troops," Montgomery wrote to Schuyler, " a force, 
you '11 say, not very adequate to the business in hand. But we must 
make the best of it. It is all I could get. I have been so used to 
struggle with difficulties, that I expect them of course." He anxiously 
desired the reiinforcements, that he might act promptly and efficiently, 
" I hope the troops wUl be sent down," he said, " as soon as possible, 
for should we fail in our first attempt, a second or a third may do the 
business before relief can arrive to the garrison. Possession of the 
town, and that speedily, I hold of the highest consequence. The enemy 
are expending their ammunition most liberally, and I fear the Canadians 
will not relish a union Avith the colonies till they see the whole country 
in our hands, and defended by such a force as may relieve them from 
the apprehensions of again falling under the ministerial lash. Were it 
not for these reasons, I should have been inclined to a blockade till to- 
ward the Ist of April, by which time the garrison would probably be 
much distressed for provisions and wood."* 

* American Archives, Fourth Series, iii., 289. 
f Autograph letter, Dec. 18, 1775. 



1775.] INATTENTION OF CONGRESS. 491 

Schuyler was utterly powerless. He had ti-ied recruit- 
ing, but failed iu the attempt. He liad already written 
to Montgomery — " I am much afraid that we shall not 
have a man left at either Fort Greorge or Ticouderoga by 
the first day of January, The recruiting parties that have 
been sent out meet with little or no success." ■■••" He had 
earnestly importuned the Congress for recnforcemeuts, and 
in a special manner for hard money, for the soldiers were 
averse to receiving the Continental bills, and but few of the 
Canadians would touch them. " I am amazed no money 
is yet ariived," Montgomery wrote to Schuyler. "The 
troops are uneasy, and I shall by and by be at my wits' 
end to furnish the army with provisions. I have almost 
exhausted Price, having had upward of £5000, York, from 
him."t 

In the lack of hard money may be found the secret of 
many of the discontents in the army, and the failure in the 
recruiting service. The Congress was even dilatory in re- 
plying to Schuyler's letters ; and now, when Montgomery 
was appealing to him for more troops and supplies, he 
again wrote an urgent, at the same time a quietly sarcastic 
letter, to the president of the supreme legislature, saying : 

* MS. Letter Book, Dec. 17, 1775. 

\ Autograph letter, December 2G, 1775. Mr. James Price wasawealthy 
merchant of Montreal, and from the beginning had been an active friend of 
the republicans. "I must take this opportunity," wrote Montgomery to 
Schuyler, " of acknowledging Price's services. He has been a faithful friend 
to the cause indeed 1 His advice and assistance upon every occasion I have 
been much benefited by ; and when I consider that he has been the first 
mover of those measures which have been attended with so many and great 
advantages to the united colonies, I can't help wishing the Congress to give 
him an ample testimony of their sense of his generous and spirited exertions 
in the cause of freedom." In a letter to Scliuyler, from Montreal, on the 
5th of January, 1775, Mr. Price wrote: "I fear the army hero will be in 
great want of cash. Our house has advanced them, since their arrival here, 
£20,000. "We are now almost out of that article ; and I am sorry to say I 
don't find any of the merchants here willing to lend." 



492 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [^t. 42. 

" I cannot procure any gold or silver here to send to Canada. I am 
afraid it is not to be had at Philadelphia, as a considerable time has 
already elapsed since Congress gave me reason to hope that a supply 
would be sent. I can not help, sir, repeating my wish, that a consider- 
able force should be immediately sent into Canada. The necessity ap- 
})ears to me indispensable, for I do most sincerely believe that unless 
such a measure be adopted we shall severely repent of it, perhaps when 
too late to afford a remedy. I beg a thousand pardons of Congress for 
my importunity on this occasion, and -I hope they will have charity 
enough to impute it to my zeal for the American cause. From what I 
can learn, the troops that are at Ticonderoga will leave it to-morrow, 
and I have none to send there. The few that are here [Albany] refuse 
to remain until Tuesday, to escort the prisoners, before which I can 
not move them for want of carriages. I have been so very long without 
hearing from Congress, that I am exceedingly anxious to have the honor 
of a line from you,"* 

* MS. Letter Books, Dec. 31, If 75. 



CHAPTER XXIX. 

Almost three weeks were consumed by Montgomery in 
ineffectual efforts to compel Carleton to surrender, or to 
make an attempt to enter the town. Mutinous murmurs 
became audible in the camp. The term of enlistment of 
many of the men was nearly expired, and the small-pox 
made its appearance among the soldiers. The commander 
perceived that something effectual must be done immedi- 
ately, or the attempt to reduce Quebec must be abandoned. 

A fearful web of difficulties was gathering around 
Montgomery, and he called a Council of War. Price 
and Antill had expressed a belief that if he could get 
possession of the Lower Town, the merchants and other 
citizens would induce Carleton to surrender rather than 
expose all their property to destruction. He laid before 
the council the plan he had hinted at in his letter to 
General Wooster on the 16th, and it was approved. But 
when he proceeded to make the final arrangements for the 
assault, he found some of Arnold's battalion indisposed to 
join in the measure, on account of difficulties among the 
officers. 

" When last I had the honor to write to you," wrote Montgomery 
to Schuyler, " I hoped before now to have had it in my power to give 
you some good news. I then had reason to believe the troops well 
inclined for a coup-de-main. I have since discovered, to my great 
mortification, that three companies of Colonel Arnold's detachment are 
very averse from the measure. There is strong reason to believe their 
difference of sentiment from the rest of the troops arises from the in- 
fluence of their officers. Captain Hanchett, who has incuired Colonel 
Arnold's displeasure by some misconduct, and thereby given room for 
harsh language, is at the bottom of it, and has made some declarations 



494 PHILIP SCHUYLER 



I^T. 42. 



which, I think, must draw upon him the censure of his country, if 
brought to trial. Captains (Goodrich and Hubbard seem to espouse his 
quarrel. A field officer is concerned in it, who wishes, I suppose, to 
have the separate command of those companies, as the above-mentioned 
captains have made application for that purpose. This dangerous party 
threatens the ruin of our affairs. I shall, at any rate, be obliged to 
change my plan of attack, being too weak to put that in execution I 
had formerly determined on. I am much afraid my friend, Major 
Brown, is deeply concerned in this business. I will hereafter acquaint 
you more particularly with this matter."* 

That after communication was never made. This was 
the last letter that Montgomery ever wrote to Schnyler. 
His suspicions concerning Major Brown's complicity in the 
affair, was justified by facts. That officer and Arnold had 
quarreled on Lake Champlain, and there was a deadly 
feud between them. Forgetful of his duty to the cause, 
Brown made the dispute with Captain Hanchett an oc- 
casion to annoy Arnold, from the time they left Point 
aux Trembles, by widening the breach, and endeavoring 
to seduce the three captains named, from the command of 
their leader to that of his own. He was so far successful 
that the commanders and their companies threatened to 
leave the army unless they should be detached from Ar- 
nold's corps. " I must try every means to prevent their 
departure," wrote Montgomery to Schuyler. " In this 
matter I am much embarrassed. Their officers have offered 
to stay, provided they may join some other corps. This 
is resentment against Arnold, and will hurt him so much 
that I don't think I can consent to it." 

Montgomery's wisdom and firmness finally healed the 
dissensions and restored order. At sunset on Christmas 
day, he reviewed Arnold's battalion at Morgan's quarters, 
and addressed them with v/aimth of sentiment and elo- 
quence of ex[)ression. He then called a council of war, 
and it was agreed to make a night attack upon the Lower 
* Autograph letter, December 2G, 1775. 



1775.] ASSAULT ON QUEBEC. 495 

Town, much after the manner he had already proposed. 
One third of his men were to set fire to houses in St. 
Roque, so as to consume the stockade in that quarter of 
the British works, while the main body should attempt to 
take Cape Diamond bastion, by escalade, and thus gain 
command of the fortress and the Upper Town. 

Preparations for the assault were carried on actively. 
Young Burr, now holding the rank of captain in Mont- 
gomery's military family, was eager for renown. He 
sought and obtained permission to lead a forlorn hope in 
scaling Cape Diamond bastion. He prepared his ladders 
and drilled his men with care. Every evening, while 
waiting for the dark and stormy night on which Mont- 
gomery had determined to make the attempt, he recon- 
noitered the i^roposed point of attack, and made himself 
thoroughly acquainted with every foot of the locality. 

It was with impatience that Montgomery waited for 
the serene cold days and nights to pass away, and a 
stormy hour to begin. Favorable omens at length ap- 
peared. On the 30th, only the day before the expiration 
of the term of service of his troops, the air thickened, and 
early in the evening a snow storm from the northeast set 
in. His troops were now reduced by desertion and the 
small-pox to seven hundred and fifty men. But the brave 
General was not to be deterred from attempting the cap- 
ture of the Canadian capital. No doubt he would have 
succeeded, had not false Canadians, who deserted, apprised 
the garrison of his plans. Carleton and McLean, and the 
loyal inhabitants and tiie garrison, were consequently on the 
alert. Two-thirds of the men lay on their arms, to be pre- 
pared for a surprise, and Carleton and other civilians slept 
in their clothes. Aware of all this, Montgomery again 
changed his plan of attack. 

Colonel Livingston, with his corps, was directed to 



496 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [^T. 42. 

make a feigned attack on St. Louis Gate, and set it on 
fire, and at the same time Major Brown was to menace 
Cape Diamond bastion. Arnold, with three hundred and 
fifty of his men, and forty of Lamb's artillery company, 
was to assail the works in the suburb St. Koque, while 
.Montgomery with the remainder was to pass below Cape 
Diamond bastion, carry the defenses at the base of the 
declivity, and endeavor to press forward and form a junc- 
tion with Arnold. Being thus in possession of the Lower 
Town, the combined forces were to carry Prescott gate, 
at the lower end of Mountain street, and rush into the 
city. 

Montgomery gave orders for the troops to be ready 
at two o'clock on the morning of the 31st ; and that they 
might recognize each other, each soldier was directed to 
fasten a piece of white paper to the front of his cap. 
Some of them wrote upon the paper the thrilling words 
of Patrick Henry, " Liberty or Death." 

At the appointed hour the troops were put in motion. 
The New Yorkers, commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel 
Campbell, and a party of Easton's corps, paraded at Hol- 
land House, and were led by Montgomery, in single file, 
down the ravine to Wolfe's cove, and thence along the 
St. Lawrence shore (now Champlain street), about two 
miles toward the barrier under Cape Diamond. Mean- 
while Arnold, who had paraded with his division at Mor- 
gan's quarters, advanced from the General Hospital, on 
the banks of the St. Charles, through the suburb St. 
Koque, to attack the barrier below Palace Gate, and Brown 
and Livingston proceeded to their respective points of 
action. 

The path along the St. Lawrence was exceedingly 
rough, being blocked with rocks, snow, and ice. The 
wind had increased almost to a gale. It came from the 



1775.] DEATH OF MONTGOMERY. 497 

northeast, freighted with snow, sleet, and cutting hail, 
and blew furiously in their faces. The progress of the 
troops on both sides of the town was very slow, and Mont- 
gomery was yet some distance from his expected point 
of attack, when Brown's signal of assault on Cape Dia- 
mond bastion was given. He pushed forward with his 
aid-de-camp, Macpherson, and the companies of Captains 
Cheesnian and Mott, and arrived at the first barrier before 
daylight. It was undefended, and Montgomery and the 
brave young Cheesman were the first to enter it after the 
carpenters who accompanied them, had sawed away some 
pickets. He sent messengers back to hurry on the reuiainder 
of the troops, and at the same time he pressed eagerly 
forward along the narrow shelf between the foot of the 
Cape Diamond cliff and the river, to observe the character 
of the way and the nature of the obstructions. He found 
a log building across the path, with loop-holes for mus- 
ketry, and a battery of two small field-pieces. Perceiving 
no signs of life, he believed the garrison not to be on the 
alert. Burning with impatience and certain of success, 
about sixty of his men had passed the first jncket barrier. 
Montgomery shouted, " Men of New York, you will not 
fear to follow where your General leads ; push on, my 
boys, and Quebec is ours \" and rushed forward to surprise 
and take the battery. 

But there had been vigilant eyes and ears within that 
log-house all this while. It was occupied by thirty Can- 
adians and eight British militia-mcn, under Captain John 
Coffin, with nine seamen, under Captain Barnsfare (mas- 
ter of a transport), who acted as cannoniers. The noise 
on Cape Diamond had given them the alarm, and through 
the vail of snow, in the dim light of a winter's dawn, they 
had seen the republicans approaching. They waited un- 
til Montgomerv and his men had gained a slight eminence 



498 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [^T. 42. 

within fifty yards of the mouths of their cannon, which 
were loaded with grape-shot, when Barnsfare gave the 
word, and they were discharged with deadly effect. Mont- 
gomery, Macpherson, Cheesman, and ten others in the 
naiTow pass were slain. The remainder of the troops, ap- 
palled by the death of their general, fled in confusion 
toward Wolfe's Cove, when Lieutenant-Colonel Campbell, 
the quarter-master-general, being the senior ofHcer, took 
the command. 

Captain Samuel Mott was eager to go forward, but 
he was almost alone in sentiment. The other officers coun- 
seled a withdrawal. The deadly battery of cannon and 
musketry was pouring forth volley after volley, and Camp- 
bell, after brief consultation, ordered a retreat. 

In the death of Macpherson and Cheesman, the cause 
of liberty lost two noble and gallant young champions. 
Only three weeks before, the former wrote to General 
Schuyler, saying : 

" Will you give me leave to mention to you my inclination to serve 
in some regiment in the new levies ? The happiness I experienced while 
in yours, and since I have been of General Alontgomery's family, is les- 
sened when I reflect that I am but half a soldier, as being at head- 
quarters exempts me from many fatigues which others undergo. This, 
and a natural desire of rising, which is, I believe, common to every one, 
lead me to request the favor of j'our recommendation for such a com- 
mission as you think I deserve. If this takes place, I should not desire, 
on that account, to quit the present service till the reduction of Quebec 
(an event, I imagine, at no great distance), till when I think the service 
of all here indispensably necessary. After that, many of us may be 
spared."* 

On the very day of the death of these gallant soldiers, 
Schuyler wrote to Montgomery — " I have warndy recom- 
mended Macpherson to Congress for a majority, happy if I 
can, at any time, serve so worthy a young gentleman."t 
♦ Autograph letter, Dec. G, 1775. f ^i^- I^etter Books, Dec. SI, 1775. 



Ills.] GALLANT MEN AND ACTIONS. 499 

Only a week before, young Cheesman wrote to hia 
father, saying : 

"I am now within one mile of Quebec, wailing for an opportunity, 
or rather a convenient time, to outer the city, which must be taken by 
storm. . . . Our army is dwindled away to almost nothing, oflicers as 
well as men. Every trifling disorder that overtakes them renders them 
unfit to remain longer with their company or in the service of their 
country. My company, only, keeps their officers, all of whom are in 
health, for which I thank that God Avho lias hitherto preserved and 
given us victory. ... I can't tcU wlien I shall retui-n home, for I can't 
do like many of my fellow-citizens — after putting my liand to the plow, 
look back ; especially now, when my country calls loudly for assistance. 
I hope those who come to reinforce us will press forward, and not slirink, 
like numbers who came about the time I did in the service, both 
Yorkers and Ncav England men. My love to brothers and sisters; my 
respects to Messrs. Franldin and inquiring friends, and duty to you and 
mamma."* 

While these sad events were occurring on the St. Law- 
rence side of the town, Arnold was maldng his way through 
St. Roquo to barriers on the St. Charles. The snow lay in 
huge drifts, and as he approached the Sault au Matelot 
the pathway was narrowed by heavy masses of ice, which 
the wind and tide had cast upon the shore. 

It was before daybreak when Arnold, at the head of a 
forlorn hope of twenty-five men, passed the foot of the de- 
clivity below Palace Grate. The town was in an uproar. 
The bells of the city were ringing, the drums were beating 
a general alarm, the cannon were beginning to roar, and 
musketeers were mounting the walls. Arnold was accom- 
panied by his secretary. Captain Oswald, and followed by 
Captain Lamb and his artillery, with a single field-piece 
upon a sled. Next to these were a party with ladders and 
other scaling implements, followed by Morgan and his rifle- 
men ; and in the rear of all was tlie main body, in number 
twice that of Montgomery's division. They were compelled 

* Autograph letter, December 23, 17V5. 



500 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [J3t. 42. 

to march in single file, and the drifts of snow became so 
deep, as the pathway narrowed, that Lamb and his com- 
pany* abandoned their cannon, and joined in the assault 
with small arms. 

The first barricade was a two gun battery at the Sault 
au Matelot, a narrow place below a projecting crag of the 
promontory. Just as Arnold, with the advance, entered 
the narrow space leading to this battery, he was observed 
by the sentinels upon the walls, and the whole detachment 
were immediately exposed to an enfilading fire of musketry. 
Livingston, by some mistake, had failed to make the attack 
upon St. Louis Gate, and hence the attention of the enemy 
was not drawn off from Arnold's movements. 

Arnold, with his forlorn hope, now rushed forward to 
attack the barrier, when he was severely wounded in the 
right leg, near the knee, by a musket ball that passed 
through it. He was completely disabled, and was borne 
away to the general hospital. Morgan's men immediately 
rushed forward and fired into the port-holes, while their 
leader, with Porterfield and others, mounted the redoubt 
by ladders, made prisoners of the captain and guard, and 
took possession of the battery with a shout that struck 
terror into the ranks of the enemy. 

The command of Arnold's division now devolved on 
Morgan. The storm was beating furiously, and the cold 
was intense. Joined by Greene, Meigs, and Bigelow, the 
assailing party numbered about two hundred. Day was 
just dawning, and without guides or any knowledge of the 
way before them, they })ressed forward in the morning twi- 
light to the second barricade, at the eastern extremity of 
Sault au Matelot street. There the defenses extended from 
the rocky declivity to the river, and the present [1860] cus- 
tom-house, then a private dwelling, had cannon projecting 
from the wings of the gable. A fierce contest ensued. For 
three hours the contestants fought desperately, and many 



1115.] VICTORY DENIED. 501 

were killed on both sides. Above the din of battle and the 
roar of the tempest, the voice of Morgan was heard en- 
couraging his men, and at last the republicans gained the 
victory. They drove the British from their guns, captured 
the battery, and took refuge in the stone houses near. 
Captain Lamb was severely wounded in the cheek by a 
grape shot, and was borne off senseless ; and other officers 
were more or less injured. 

Inspirited by success, Morgan was preparing to push 
forward and force his way into the town, when news of 
sad disaster reached him. Captain Dearborn had been 
stationed near Palace Gate, in the rear, and was discovered 
by the sentinels at day-break. By that time Carleton was 
aware of the re})ulse at Cape Diamond and that Brown's 
attack was only a feint ; he therefore directed all his ener- 
gies against Arnold's division. He immediately dispatched 
a considerable force toward the suburb St. Eoque, to gain 
the rear of the Americans. As they sallied out of Palace 
Gate, they surprised and captured Dearborn's corps, pressed 
onward to the Sault an Matelot, and cut off the retreat of 
the republicans from the lower town. Intelligence of this 
movement and of the retreat of Campbell, reached Mor- 
gan at the same time. He perceived that further efforts to 
penetrate the walled city would be vain without cooperation, 
and he proposed to his soldiers to cut their way through their 
enemies in the rear. This was impossible, and at ten o'clock, 
the brave leader of riflemen and the whole surviving party 
under him, four hundred and twenty-six in number, were 
surrendered jirisoners of war. More than one hundred, it 
was estimated, had been killed and wounded. The re- 
mainder of Arnold's division, who were in the rear as a 
reserve, retreated, leaving the brass six jjound lield-pieco 
imbedded in the snow. 

Carleton, still fearing the disloyalty of the inhabitants of 



502 pniLir schuyler. [.^et. 42. 

Quebec, was afraid to send out troops in pursuit of the fugi- 
tive Americans ; and their camp, formed by order of Arnold 
a short distance from the town, remained undisturbed. 
Although badly wounded and suffering severely, that in- 
trepid officer was not for a moment forgetful of his duty. 
He had been borne through the snow to the general hospi- 
tal on the St. Charles, exposed to the enfilading fire of the 
musketeers upon the walls of Quebec ; and, while tortured 
with pain, he wrote a dispatch to General Wooster, giving 
an account of the disaster as far as he was informed (his 
detachment was yet fighting), and asking for immediate 
reinforcements ; for, he declared in another letter, " I have 
no thoughts of leaving this proud town until I enter it in 
triumph. I am in the way of my duty, and I know no 
fear." Well would it have been for his memory, had 
he perished like Montgomery on that tempestuous morn- 
ing, and been wrapped in the winding-sheet of deep snow- 
drifts. 

When the contest was ended and the prisoners were se- 
cured, Carleton sent out a detachment to search for the 
body of Montgomery, his old companion-in-arms, whom he 
remembered as a noble young man, and beloved by Wolfe's 
army for his vivacity, generous spirit, and manly virtues. 
He was also well-known and fondly remembered by Lieu- 
tenant Governor Cramahe, Major Caldwell, and other 
officers in Quebec, who were with him at its conquest by 
the English in 1759. His body was found with those of 
Macpherson, Cheesman and others, at a point now called 
Pres-de-Ville, where he fell, shrouded in the snow-drifts. 
The bodies were conveyed into the city; and when that of 
Montgomery was identified, it is said Carleton pronounced 
over it a brief and touching eulogy, while his eyes were 
streaming with the tears of real sorrow. Cramahe took 
charge of the remains and buried them, with those of 



1775.1 MONTGOMERY THE BELOVED. 503 

Macpherson, within the fortifications of the city, where 
they reposed forty-two years, and were then conveyed to 
New York and deposited beneath a beautiful mural mon- 
ument erected by order of Congress, on the exterior of the 
front wall of St. Paul's Church, in that city. 

Intelligence of Moutgoniery's death went over the 
country, like the tolling of a funeral bell. His victories 
had awakened the voices of loudest praise in all parts of 
the land, and his death was felt aa a personal bereavement 
by thousands who admired and loved him for his bravery 
and goodness. " Never was a city so universally struck 
with grief," wrote Thomas Lynch, in Philadelphia, to 
Schuyler, in Albany, " as this was, on hearing of the loss 
of Montgomery. Every lady's eye was filled with tears. 
I happened to have company at dinner, but none had in- 
clination for any other food than sorrow or resentment. 
Poor, gallant fellow ! If a martyr's suiferings merit a 
martyr's reward, his claim is indisputable. I am sure 
from the time he left Ticonderoga to the moment of his 
release by death, his sufferings had no interval. He now 
rests from his labor, and his works can't but follow him."* 

The sad intelligence fell with blighting force upon the 
heart of Schuyler, who loved Montgomery as a brother. 
In his last letter to him, he had said, in conclusion — "Adieu, 
my dear sir ; may I have the pleasure soon to announce 
another of your victories, and afterward, that of eu] bracing 
you." Five days afterward in a brief letter to Washington, 
Schuyler wrote, "I wish I had no occasion to send my dear 
General the inclosed melancholy accounts. My amiable 
friend, the gallant Montgomery, is no more ! The brave 
Arnold is wounded, and we have met with a very severe 
check in an unsuccessful attempt on Quebec. May heaven 

« Autograpli Letter, January 20th, 1776. 



504 PHILIP SCHUYLER. [^T. 42. 

be graciously pleased to terminate the misfortune here ! 
I tremble for our people in Canada."* 

Schuyler sent an express to the Continental Congress 
with the sad intelligence of Montgomery's death ; and that 
body, by resolution, decreed to "transmit to future ages, as 
examples truly worthy of imitation, his patriotism, conduct, 
boldness of enterprise, insuperable perseverance, and con- 
tempt of danger and death," by erecting a monument to be 
procured "from Paris or any other part of France," by Dr. 
Franklin, " with an inscription, sacred to his memory, and 
expressive of his amiable character and heroic achievements." 
They also requested the Rev, Dr. Smith, of Philadelphia, 
" to prepare and deliver a funeral oration in his honor."f 

The opposition members of the British Parliament, 
with eloquent words spoke his praise. Chatham and 
Burke displayed some of their happiest specimens of eul- 
ogy, mixed with the keenest reproof of ministers; and 
Colonel Barre, who was a fellow-soldier with Montgomery 
in the last war, shed tears of real grief, as, upon the floor 
of the House of Commons, he expatiated upon the virtues 
of the slain hero. But the premier, Lord North, whose 
unwise measures had kindled the war, said, "I can not 
join in lamenting the death of Montgomery, as a public 
loss. He was undoubtedly brave, humane, and generous ; 
but still he was only a brave, humane, and generous rebel. 
Curse on his virtues, they 've undone his country." Fox 
retorted — " The term rebel is no certain mark of disgrace. 
All the great assertors of liberty, the saviors of their coun- 
try, the benefactors of mankind in all ages, have been call- 
ed rebels. We owe the Constitution which enables us to 
sit in this House to a rebellion." 

* MS. Letter Books, January 13th, 1776. 
I Jouruala of Congress, January 25, 177(J. 

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